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Gas prices to drop five cents by Friday

Analyst says refineries are kicking into high gear
9697123_web1_171128-SNM-M-Gas-pump
(File photo)

Can you stretch your gas till Friday? You should try, according to Gas Buddy.com’s senior analyst.

“We’ll be down to 131.9 [cents a litre] as of midnight Thursday night,” said Dan McTeague, adding cities outside Metro Vancouver could see prices dip into the mid 120s.

That’s down from a high of 147.9 cents in early November throughout the Lower Mainland.

“Much of that decline has to do with refineries in the U.S. building up inventory, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, who have been troubled by every plague imaginable,” said McTeague. “High demand, low inventory and refinery and pipeline issues…”

Output rates for the region’s refineries have gone from 84 per cent up to 92 per cent – a million-barrel surplus, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

“There’s no ifs, ands or buts. The reality is that prices are plummeting because there are increasing stockpiles, finally, of gasoline,” McTeague said.

He’s got another tip: gas is cheaper on the weekend.

“The retailers tend to shed that 12.5-cent retail margin that they charge,” he said. “They sometimes knock three or four cents off.”


@katslepian

katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

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