Gas prices are set to drop next month in Metro Vancouver

In the upcoming weeks, it is predicted that gas prices will drop in Metro Vancouver, causing less pain at the pump for drivers in the region.

The decline is due to the region’s decrease in gasoline supply and demand. As a result, gas prices could drop by $1.60 by the beginning of December, says UBC economic professor Warner Antweiler.

If prices drop to $1.50 in three months, prices will fall by $0.53 cents from October, when people paid $2.13 for regular gas.

“In September [last year], that peaked at just over $2.10. And then they fell to $1.70. Right now, you can see how quickly these prices can change by as much as 50 cents. We had that same effect in November last year, and the prices shot up to $2.05,” says Antweiler.

In some Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods, it’s already a reality: regular gas was reportedly priced at $1.699 along the Fraser Highway in Surrey’s Clayton Heights neighbourhood, according to GasBuddy.com.

While prices are set to drop further in BC, our southern neighbours in the US are also getting a taste of cheaper gas prices.

According to Patrick De Hann, GasBuddy’s media relations specialist, “Crude rising to nearly $78/bbl as OPEC/KSA/RU expected to react to limit oil production, which is reducing the odds of #gasprices falling nationally to $2.99/gal…,” he wrote in an X post.

WTI crude rising to nearly $78/bbl as OPEC/KSA/RU expected to react to limit oil production, which is reducing the odds of #gasprices falling nationally to $2.99/gal…

— Patrick De Haan ⛽️📊 (@GasBuddyGuy) November 20, 2023

As of Sunday night, the average gas price in the Metro Vancouver region was $1.7447, according to GasBuddy.com.

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What is causing the drop in gas prices? Antweiler says two factors are playing a role in the decline: population growth and the transition to electric vehicles.

In terms of population growth, he says it’s really as simple as supply and demand.

“Here in British Columbia, we have seen two factors playing a role. One is population growth. So there are more people who drive cars. Therefore, that has been pushing more than demand on capacity,” says Antweiler.

He says a transition to electric vehicles as more and more people are switching away from gasoline and driving electric vehicles is also having an impact.

“We should see that demand is actually coming down, and that should also dampen the volatility in the future.”

He says that Russia has also been circumventing various restrictions on crude oil. Although most of the gas we use in Metro Vancouver comes from Alberta, this has affected gas prices by making cheaper options more available.

So, with gas prices lower than last year and downward prices set to ease the pain people have been feeling at the pump, Metro Vancouver drivers could expect an early holiday treat this season.

Have you noticed a decline in gas prices yet? Let us know in the comments.