Expect to pay more at Vancouver gas pumps as the Iran war causes oil prices to jump
Gas prices are surging in Vancouver due to the volatile war in the Middle East.
At the time of publishing, Vancouver gas prices were at 187.43 cents per litre, according to GasBuddy’s fuel price portal, up 3.5 cents from yesterday and 21.2 cents from last week’s average of 166.2 cents per litre.
“Crude last closed on Friday, March 6, at $90.90 US per barrel, and is currently trading around US$96-97 per barrel today,” said Suzanne Gray, a sales and services consultant with Kalibrate, in an email to Daily Hive.
Oil prices are surging due to the Iran war, which started on Feb. 28, 2026, after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.
The war has since “destabilized global energy markets and driven up the price of oil,” said Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, in a video shared with media.
He said oil prices have jumped by about five per cent, largely due to the fact that ships have stopped sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, where 20 per cent of the world’s supply of oil flows through.
“It’s not been necessarily closed, but the elevated risk has caused vessels to drop anchor before sailing through the Strait of Hormuz on the uncertainty that Iran could potentially launch attacks on vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Gray said that if the Strait of Hormuz remains obstructed and crude oil production is further reduced, “we will likely see further increases in retail pump prices.”
Further, gas prices are higher in the summer as demand picks up and refiners switch to a more expensive blend, she said.
“This seasonal price bump may be more pronounced this year, with the closure of a California refinery in 2025 and another refinery scheduled to close in 2026. This reduction in refinery capacity on the North American West Coast leaves the region more reliant on imports and prone to price spikes,” Gray said.
She said that the highest recorded retail was 241.9 cents per litre on Sept. 30, 2022, due to “tight” refined product inventories.
More recently, Vancouver drivers saw a sharp surge in gas prices in September 2025, when prices soared to over $1.90 cents a litre due to the permanent shutdown of the Phillips 66 refinery in Los Angeles.