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March 07, 2022 - 2:37 PM
The volatile price of gasoline triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has pushed prices to a record high in Canada and the United States, and prices could be headed to a Canadian average of $2 per litre, or more.
That’s the way Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.com, sees it. But, it might be hard to check out his predictions because the website crashed under the pressure of 100 times its normal volume, he tweeted this afternoon, March 7.
Gas hit US$4.104 per gallon in the U.S. today, breaking the 2008 record set after Hurricane Katrina.
In Vancouver, prices hit as high as $2.09.9 on the latest posting on GasBuddy.com before it crashed. That also showed Kelowna at $1.76.9, the same as Friday, but the site was down before other Kamloops or Okanagan prices could be checked.
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Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.com.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK/GasBuddy.com
“It’s possible, if not likely, that Canada could rise to a nationwide average of close to, if not above, $2 per litre,” De Haan said in a Facebook post.
Prices are so volatile that it’s impossible to predict how high they might go, or for how long they will remain high.
The price of crude oil shot up USD$10 a barrel overnight but was only up $1 this morning, De Haan said.
That might be a bit of a silver lining.
“Oil prices are searching now for the point where the price of oil will come down,” De Haan said, speculating that crude oil prices may stabilize or drop by the end of the week.
He blames the sharp rise in prices on sanctions against Russian oil, which makes up 10% of the world’s production, even though actual sanctions have yet to be imposed.
His advice to motorists: conserve by doing things like driving slower, making sure tires are fully inflated and driving less.
De Haan was not available for an interview today. He’s so busy that he’s scheduling interviews in 15-minute increments with his next opening on Thursday.
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