Update Thursday, July 28 at 11 AM
The price of a litre of gas has been lowered to 1.79 at Prince George Costco
Original story from Wednesday, July 27
Gas prices in Prince George are below two bucks a litre for the first time in a while.
The vast majority of stations are at 197.9 while Costco is the cheapest place to fuel up at 184.9.
However, Canadians for Affordable Energy President Dan McTeague told Vista Radio gas stations are still enjoying retail margins of over 30 cents as it’s only costing them 1.65 per litre to replace their fuel
“You and I have done many interviews in the past where gas stations have charged between six and twelve cents a litre, that’s the norm with six being the skinniest and twelve being really good. I am seeing 30 cents (for a profit margin) and I think that gas stations here in Prince George and across Western Canada have some serious explaining to do.”
“It’s been a problem for the past month and a half where gas stations here in Prince George and pretty much the entire central of BC, all of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba with just a few exceptions have not been passing on the decreases in the replacement costs for gasoline. By that, I mean we have seen a 30-cent decrease since the middle of June and you probably got about five to seven cents back on that but they are still holding on to the other twenty to twenty-five cents a litre.”
Furthermore, he is a little stunned local residents aren’t asking more questions.
“Out of sight is out of mind. While more people are actually interested in what the actual gas price is, no one spends time looking at the breakdown and when you do the break down, you get what happened in Alberta. After three weeks of me pointing this out the premier and the province have now decided to investigate and call in the competition bureau.”
“That won’t necessarily make a big difference in the short term but it does expose gas stations for what amounts to significant market power to maintain gas prices, price maintenance. It’s pretty serious and that means the public is still playing a lot more.”
McTeague added the fuel price decrease should be no incentive for people to bring out the party hats and kazoos.