The Circle K service station on Departure Bay Rd. behind Country Club Centre has gas on sale on Friday, Jan 7 for $1.79 a litre. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

pump pain

Nanaimo area gas prices surge, analyst expects relief in days ahead

Jan 7, 2022 | 11:20 AM

NANAMO — Be prepared for pain at the pumps.

Following recent incremental price increases, most Nanaimo service stations significantly rose their baseline price for regular gas to about $1.55 a litre on Friday, Jan 7.

Leading the pack was a Departure Bay Rd. service station where Circle K listed $1.79 a litre, while the nearby Uplands Dr. Petro Canada was selling for $1.67.

Petroleum analyst Dan McTeague said nearly $1.80 a litre for gas does not currently reflect the Nanaimo area market.

“That would be a one-off, there’s no way that’s justified,” McTeague said.

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A day earlier most Nanaimo stations were selling gas for about $147.9 a litre, according to GasBuddy, which shot up by roughly eight cents a litre late in the day and into Friday.

McTeague said it’s important to put into context the price of gas given the many and expensive overhead costs facing service station operators.

“It’s costing about $1.57 (a litre) for gas stations to buy their fuel today, so if they’re selling it for less than that than obviously they have a rich uncle, maybe they’re selling a lot of beef jerky…but they have to make it up somehow.”

Most service stations in the Nanaimo area are selling gas for roughly $1.55 a litre on Friday, Jan 7. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

McTeague noted recent cold temperatures disrupted the flow of gas, leading to higher prices.

“The combination of cold weather knocking two refineries, one in Vancouver and the other one in Anacortes (Washington State) along with two other gasoline terminals in upper Oregon really beat up the Pacific Northwest gasoline market and left it short.”

On the plus side, McTeague said net wholesale prices for gas are showing signs of dropping modestly in the coming days.

Gas prices in the Parksville-Qualicum Beach and Ladysmith areas are generally cheaper as of Friday, Jan 7 to between $1.50 and $155 a litre, according to GasBuddy.

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