Prince George area drivers are finally getting a break at the pumps thanks to a five-cent decline in gas prices over the past few days.
The best place to purchase fuel is Costco at 128.9 while the majority of stations are at 131.9.
Local gas stations will be operating under very thin profit margins says Senior Petroleum Analyst with Gasbuddy.com Dan McTeague.
“When you’re seeing prices between a dollar twenty-five or a dollar twenty-six to a dollar thirty-one you should know that the low end of those prices is what it takes for gas stations to buy the gas and the dollar thirty-one is a very skinny six-cent profit margin.”
However, some residents may be concerned the price relief may be short-lived due to the recent diplomatic squabble between Canada and Saudi Arabia where 15,000 students were ordered to leave the country.
McTeague believes this won’t be the case.
“Most of what Canada imports in terms of oil is on the east coast and Saudi Arabia maybe represents one-seventh of what were importing so I think the prices you’re looking at won’t be impacted.”
Prince George and their neighbours to the south also have one thing in common when it comes to these low gas prices.
“You look at where we are whether it’s Kamloops or Prince George they seem to be dueling it and both of them have one thing in common is that they both have Costco’s which are discount stores that use gasoline as a bit of a loss leader and that’s what drives prices down and I would say Prince George is among the lowest in the province.”
Prices could fall another two or three cents after the weekend.