LOWER MAINLAND (NEWS 1130) – A gas analyst is predicting prices will stay steady in the Lower Mainland over the next week, but other parts of the country will see fluctuations.
Roger McKnight with En-Pro International says it all has to do with annual maintenance at refineries.
“They basically shut down to get ready for the driving season. That tends to — in 12 of the last 13 years — drive gasoline prices up until we get to until about mid-April and they start slowing down,” he tells us.
He predicts prices will go up on the east coast, while Prairie provinces will see a drop.
“The refineries, basically, are getting ready for the driving season by re-tweaking their refineries to take a different type of crude to give a higher yield of gasoline to keep pace with demand.”
McKnight adds refineries are closing earlier this year because inventory in the US is so high right now.
As for why prices are expected to stay steady around here, he tells us, “the refinery situation on the West Coast is pretty stable versus the rest of the country.”
He says there’s a misconception that prices in Canada are made in Canada.
“They actually follow the wholesale price changes in the US,” he tells us. “Vancouver and the Lower Mainland follow whatever happens in Seattle, as far as wholesale price changes are concerned.”