Why gasoline is 10 cents cheaper in Vancouver than Okanagan, Kamloops
While the price of gasoline has dropped from more than $2 per litre over the last few months, it has fallen further in Vancouver than in Kamloops and the Okanagan.
As of today, Nov. 21, at most stations in Kelowna a litre of regular was selling for $1.72.9 to $1.74.9 and in Kamloops gas was at $1.76.9, according to GasBuddy.com.
Most stations in Vancouver were selling for $1.66.9, even though Greater Vancouver gas stations have to pay an extra transit tax of 18.5¢ per litre.
All gas has to have 5% biofuels added in.
“The blending is done at the wholesale sites," Vijay Muralidharan, director and owner of R Cube Economic Consulting, told iNFOnews.ca. "The data I’m seeing right now shows that, since Nov. 4, they’ve not been able to get a lot of biofuels. Their cost margins (what they charge for gas) have shot through the roof, meaning they’re scrambling to get supplies of biofuels.”
The blending for this region is done either in Alberta or Kamloops and they’re all experiencing the same supply issues.
Canada imports 99% of its biofuels from California so there can be stiff competition at times if supplies are limited. It’s also shipped by train and there could be disruptions there, Muralidharan said.
The Lower Mainland gets most of its gasoline from refineries in Washington State which don’t seem to be facing the same biofuel supply issues.
There were similar price spikes in the Thompson-Okanagan in the summer and some stations ran out of gas altogether because of a shortage of biofuels.
READ MORE: Why some gas stations in Okanagan, Kamloops are running out of fuel
“The only answer to this, in the long term, is we start building our own biofuel plants and start manufacturing our own biofuels for our domestic demand,” Muralidharan said, noting some companies in B.C. and Saskatchewan are looking into doing just that.
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