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Gas stations were busy Wednesday ahead of a price hike.By Bob Tymczyszyn St. Catharines Standard photo
So, you woke up Thursday, April 18 to much higher gas prices than what they had been the day earlier, but if you didn’t think to fill up, there’s relief on the way.
Gas price watcher and Canadians for Affordable Energy president Dan McTeague says prices are now expected to drop 5 cents a litre on Friday and could drop another penny on Saturday.
But what drove the gas prices up 14 cents a litre to an average of 179.9 cents in southern Ontario on Thursday in the first place?
The switchover to summer blend, which is more expensive to produce than winter gas, is the main culprit.
With the switchover, the spot market in the U.S. jumped to $2.83 per gallon from $2.50, McTeague says. The spot market is the wholesale market, which impacts what gas stations pay refineries for fuel. That increase equates to 14 cents a litre (12.4 cents plus HST), on the Canadian side.
The 33 cent a gallon increase was driven by higher blending costs, particularly by the cost of alkylate, says McTeague, a component used more heavily in the summer blend fuel mixture.
What is summer blend?First off, winter blend contains more butane. AAA says butane evaporates easily, can lead to vapour lock in an engine on hot days and contributes to ozone and smog pollution. It’s also volatile, which is why it’s not used in summer. But it combusts easily, helping your engine to run properly in cold temperatures.
The summer blend uses far less butane, but more alkylate. The summer blend improves a vehicle’s gas mileage and is generally better for the environment, AAA points out.
“Butane prices are pretty stable but alkylate costs are through the roof,” McTeague said.
Why are prices going down Friday?Prices are expected to drop by 5 cents a litre Friday to an average of 174.9 cents per litre in southern Ontario. McTeague said it's still early in trading, but prices could drop another cent on Saturday as well.
“It’s going down to 174.9, a little bit of relief,” McTeague said, “and that’s due to the collapse in oil prices.”
He said energy traders don’t anticipate a big risk premium in the Middle East, which had been a concern, and are generally concerned about the health of the global economy, all of which is pushing oil prices down.
“Those who missed out last night, the consolation may be prices drop by five or six cents a litre by Saturday,” McTeague said.
来源链接：
https://www.toronto.com/news/why-gas-prices-increased-so-much-thursday-in-ontario-and-why-relief-is-coming/article_6e7e158f-ff1b-5f41-9a16-c345d6e0020d.html
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