With prices as low as 96.9 cents per litre, Kamloops has some of the lowest gas prices in the province right now.

(JESSICA WALLACE / iNFOnews.ca)

PLAN A KAMLOOPS PIT STOP TO FILL UP

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Spent a little too much on gifts this year? You might still come out flush on your holiday budget thanks to the dropping prices at gas pumps around the country.

For those that plan to drive during the holidays gas prices are often a thing to gripe about but this year, with gas prices finally below $1 per litre in some areas, we don’t have quite as much to complain about.

According to GasBuddy.com, a website that tracks consumer reported gas prices across the country, Kamloops currently has the lowest regular grade gas prices in the region with a low posted price of 96.9 cents per litre at several stations. More than 30 stations now sit below $1 per litre in the city.

From Penticton to Lake Country and Salmon Arm to Merritt gas prices are fairly similar. Lake Country, Penticton and Merritt all have stations reporting prices as low as 105.9 cents per litre while Vernon, Kelowna and Westbank have stations as low as 106.9 cents per litre. Many stations in Kelowna still sit at 109.9 though.

While Kamloops is among the lowest in B.C. for gas prices, the provincial average is 106.7 cents per litre, it just ahead of the national average of 99.5 cents per litre. The Prairies are doing even leading the way at the pumps though.

In Alberta Edmonton has several stations reporting prices of 74.9 cents per litre and many others under the 80 cents per litre mark. Saskatchewan has prices as low as 83.9 cents per litre in Regina but the average price is in the 88 to 90 cents per litre mark right now. Manitoba is doing slightly better with many stations in Winnipeg sitting in the 87 cents per litre range.

The last time gas was this cheap in B.C. was in 2009-2010. In 2008 the provincial average gas price dropped to around 80 cents per litre only a couple months after a 10-year high of about 147 cents per litre was hit.

A year ago the average provincial gas price was 123.1 cents per litre, just slightly above the national average of 122.5 cents per litre.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

News from © iNFOnews, 2014