Gas in Metro Vancouver could drop to prices last seen in 2003

As prices at the pump continue to plummet, an industry expert suggests that Vancouver could see gas prices that haven’t been seen in nearly 20 years.

Dan McTeague, President of Canadians for Affordable Energy, tweeted on Wednesday that prices are expected to fall by 6 cents/litre overnight.

The gas expert says that by Thursday afternoon and evening, in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, he believes that some stations will have gas for as low as 84.9 cents/litre.

⛽️ Price ⚠️: #GasPrices to FALL 6 cents a litre NET overnight for Thursday in #Vancouver & Lower Mainland, pushing top prices down to 92.9 cents/litre in the morning. By afternoon/evening some stations will be selling as low as 84.9 cts/l. These are prices not seen since Jan 2003

— Dan McTeague (@GasPriceWizard) April 9, 2020

More importantly, McTeague says that gas prices haven’t been this low since January of 2003.

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According to Patrick DeHaan, Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, the reason for the decline in pump prices primarily has to do with the coronavirus pandemic.

Last March, he said that actions such as lockdowns in different countries and cancelled flights are among some of the reasons that there’s been less demand for oil.

“Back in January, coronavirus started to affect China first, we saw them start to lock down areas of their country, flights started to be cancelled, China started to lock people into cities, schools, businesses, even Apple shut down in China,” he said.

These actions contributed to “a huge reduction in oil demand in China, and of course, it didn’t stop there. Now we’re talking about the virus almost worldwide.”

In the long run, however, it may not be good news for Canadians after all.

Max Fawcett, former editor of Alberta Oil Magazine and Vancouver Magazine, suggests that falling prices could end up costing Canada billions of dollars in foregone tax revenue and lost economic activity.

He said that the impact will be felt most in places like Calgary and St. John’s, where the oil and gas economy is the strongest.