KAMLOOPS — Price shock is hitting residents across Kamloops today who are filling up their vehicles.
Petroleum Analyst with GasBuddy.com, Dan McTeague, says prices jumped up to 17 cents per litre at some Kamloops gas stations.
“We’re really close to the highest prices ever seen; you’re still at the point where one more penny would probably do it and it’s likely you could see that at this point,” he says.
The prices have increased for several reasons, McTeague says, including year-over-year tax increases in the province.
“I’m not trying to be political but when you add a penny here and a penny there it starts to add up and it starts to push prices above a certain threshold, so we’re in virtual record territory now for Kamloops,” McTeague says. “There may not be relief in sight for the next several days. But I think we’ll be back down below $1.40 — not just because markets may start to see a downward trend a little bit, because these prices are very high for everybody in North America — but also because we have ultra competition here among gas stations who may very well start to shed those retail margins and bring us back to the $1.38 (to) $1.39 range likely by the late weekend.”
Provincially, Kamloops is still in good standing with the average gas prices in Victoria hitting $1.539, and in Vancouver $1.659.
But at this point in time, most stations in the city are above $1.40 per litre for gasoline.
