A rise in gas prices is going to make travelling on the long weekend a little more expensive.
Drivers from all over Alberta are dealing with the rise in gas prices this weekend, as the average cost in the province is 101.589 cents per regular litre, up eight to 10 cents from last week. Stations in Red Deer range between 96.9-102.9 cents per litre.
The rise in gas prices has been about a week overdue, said Gasbuddy.com senior petroleum analyst Dan McTeague, as the price for a station to buy gas has been sitting around 92 cents since last Thursday.
Stations wouldn’t be able to make a profit selling gas for the same price it costs, as Alberta pumps have been doing through the past week, he said.
“It was inevitable those prices would move up … although it was a little later than I thought,” McTeague said.
If a station is barely making a profit or losing money because its prices are too low, selling gas on the long weekend, when more drivers hit the road, could be difficult, he said.
“If the amount of people buying gas suddenly doubles because they’re taking to the road, you’re going to double your losses, so a lot of stations will raise their prices,” McTeague said.
McTeague said prices should lower to the early to mid-90 cent per litre range by early next week.
Shelley Jones works in Red Deer, but lives about an hour out of town. She is working over the long weekend so the increase in gas prices affects her.
“It’s frustrating. I’m not much of a traveller, but my daily life is affected because it costs more to go back and forth from work,” she said.
Red Deer’s Jim Reid and his family will be heading up to a cabin in Winfield, about an hour north of the city, for the long weekend.
“They seem to (raise the price of gas) every long weekend and they have for about 50 years,” Reid said. “I filled up about four days ago because I knew the prices were going to go up.”
Banff’s Brent Buchan was travelling through Red Deer Friday afternoon on his way to Edmonton and stopped for gas.
Originally he planned on stopping for gas in Crossfield, an hour south of Red Deer, but prices were around 104 cents per litre so he kept moving. He next stopped in Red Deer where he saw gas was just under 97 cents a litre at the Petro Canada station on 50th Street.
“I can’t complain about the prices here,” Buchan said. “The price hike happens every long weekend. Lots of us work in oil and gas so it’s not too unusual to see.”
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
