For the second time this month, drivers in Prince George will be paying through the nose to fill up their vehicles.
Earlier this month, prices rose by a dime or more to 118.9 cents a litre in the Northern Capital, with a good chunk of locations still with that price range.
Now, the price of fuel will rise to a dollar-thirty a litre as we shift towards the spring and summer months.
Gasbuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst, Dan McTeague spoke about the additional price hike to My PG Now.
“The real reason is the wholesale price for gasoline continues to escalate and that is being driven by the US-Chicago midwest market, there are refineries going through maintenance shifting from winter to summer gasoline and we’re simply following that particular pattern.”
McTeague believes the new prices could become the new normal for most of Northern BC as the weather gets nicer.
“If I need a ten to twelve cent retail margin to make the return and to make my gas station viable, it means that prices could go as high 136.9. I don’t see that happening but certainly, a 131.9 certainly looks like the new normal for us here in Prince George.”
“I expect prices to remain in this vicinity short of a recession or something that would certainly indicate a surge in supply in the US Midwest market and of course assuming the four refineries that supply our markets throughout Central British Columbia.”
However, this might not be the only things northern residents will need to keep their eyes on as the carbon tax increase and the upcoming Alberta election looms.
“In only ten or eleven days from now, the British Columbia government has imposed yet another tax increase of one-point-six cents a litre and of course, we’re going to have to keep our eyes, like it or not, on the fallout of the election in Alberta.”
Costco is still the cheapest place to fuel up in Prince George at 117.9.