Northern BC residents received a lump of coal in their stockings just before the holidays as gas stations jacked up their prices.
In the Bulkley Valley, gas prices are ranging between $120.9 and $128.9.
The increased prices will be around for a while.
“It looks like one fifteen and one sixteen nine looks like the price was going to pay through New Year’s, so the price you see at a dollar twenty or a dollar twenty-one, you may want to hold off if you don’t absolutely have to gas up. You may want to hold off a few days and try to look for those stations,” says Dan McTeague, Senior Petroleum Analyst with Gasbuddy.com
Some complications within the United States Midwestern region were mostly to blame for the recent hike.
“Two refineries in the Chicago market ran out of supply or into some production issues and that really is the benchmark for the price we pay here in western Canada. Whether we like you’re not Canadians decided back in 1984 made a decision to pay International prices and that means the US price is the benchmark.”
Prices are expected to remain this way until the New Year as they are predicted to drop into the $110.9 range – McTeague says to wait a couple of days to fill up again as stations are who are at $121.9 are expected to drop by today or Wednesday.
The pre-Christmas jump was felt across Canada.
He expects 2018 to be even more expensive for gasoline with prices between $110.9 and $115.9 expected to be the new normal.