CALGARY – Canadian motorists hitting the road for the country’s 150th Canada Day weekend are expected to find the lowest average gasoline prices in seven years, according to GasBuddy.com.
The retail fuel price tracking company says that drivers will be paying an average of 104.4 cents per litre, 13 cents less than the 10-year average of $1.17 and the lowest Canada Day long weekend price since 2010.
GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst Dan McTeague says the prices are a welcome relief after years of summer price increases.
He says this weekend will “put to rest the myth” that gas prices always go up for the holidays.
Michael Ervin, a fuel market analyst with the Kent Group, says lower gasoline prices mainly result from North American refineries being able to buy oil at lower prices.
He said refinery production has been strong, allowing gasoline inventories to build and preventing an imbalance in supply and demand that might force prices higher.