Motorists in Southern Manitoba have been feeling some relief at the gas pumps the last couple of weeks.
According to GasBuddy, the average price of regular gasoline has dropped nine cents per litre over the last week in Steinbach. The average price Thursday morning was 168.9 cents per litre, which is 21 cents per litre lower than the high for this year of 189.9 cents per litre back on May 12th.
Patrick De Haan is Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy. He says this decrease is being felt in all Canadian provinces.
"And that's attributed to oil prices, which over the last couple of weeks have dipped precipitously based on the potential that the U.S. and Iran could come to an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz," adds De Haan.
De Haan says oil prices have reversed this week based on a diminished likelihood of any deal happening. But, he says oil prices have been volatile this week.
"Oil was down Monday, up Tuesday, down Wednesday, and down again (Thursday)," adds De Haan.
De Haan says with so much uncertainty in the Middle East, gasoline prices will trend in the way of headlines.
"If it's good news, they reopen the Strait, gas could ease," he predicts. "If it's bad news with new escalations and attacks, well, gas prices could go up."
He notes it is really anyone's guess as to what might happen next.
How do Steinbach prices compare with the rest of Canada?
According to GasBuddy, the average price of regular gasoline in Steinbach on Thursday is well ahead of this day one year ago, when it was 131.9 cents per litre. It is also ahead of our provincial average of 160.0 cents per litre. Manitoba happens to have the lowest average price of all provinces in Canada. The average price Thursday in Canada is 174.6 cents per litre, with B.C. having the highest average of all provinces at 194.4 cents per litre.
The cheapest average price of gas of any city in Canada Thursday is Leduc, Alberta at 149.9 cents per litre. Brandon is second on that list at 151.9 cents per litre. The most expensive city for gasoline Thursday is Vancouver at 209.0 cents per litre.
Gas prices in Steinbach continue to be higher than at pumps in Winnipeg, where the average price according to GasBuddy is 159.3 cents per litre. De Haan says the reason why Winnipeg is nearly 10 cents per litre cheaper than Steinbach is because of the volatility.
"Wholesale gasoline prices are fluctuating," De Haan points out. "There's been a lot of directional changes in the price of oil, and that's left stations buying gasoline with a much different price than some of their competitors and that creates a bit of a spread between local stations."
Meanwhile, De Haan says gas prices typically peak in April and May, and we are now in the time of the year when prices begin to gently decline. However, because of the situation in the Middle East, De Haan says the longer the Strait remains closed, the greater the risk that gas prices reach record highs yet this summer.
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