Gas prices in Portage la Prairie jumped this week, with most stations rising to 137.9 cents per litre from around 129 cents just last week. This increase reflects broader trends seen across Canada over the past two weeks.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis with GasBuddy, notes that oil prices have climbed back near $70 a barrel after several weeks in the low to mid-60s.
“Oil prices had been rising back close to $70 a barrel after spending several weeks in the low to mid 60s,” he says.
He adds that weakening of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar has also contributed to rising costs, driven partly by trade tensions between Canada and the U.S.
Currency and trade concerns
De Haan explains that “the Looney had been weakening substantially here and has been for the last couple of months. Some concerns over the US and Canada's trade relationship, and so that has caused the Canadian dollar to weaken.”
Since oil is traded globally in U.S. dollars, a weaker Canadian dollar pushes prices higher domestically.
He continues, “The price of oil is going up because of tensions globally. Essentially, the US potentially placing secondary sanctions on countries that do business with Russia.”
These geopolitical factors, combined with currency fluctuations, have pushed prices upward, though he hopes these increases will be temporary.
“Hopefully it will be temporary, especially if Canada can come to some sort of trade agreement with the US,” De Haan remarks.
How Portage stacks up
Comparing local prices, De Haan says the provincial average in Manitoba is about 134.6 cents per litre, putting Portage slightly above that.
However, the Canadian national average is about 138.4 cents per litre, meaning Portage’s prices are still a bit lower than the national figure.
He also notes that prices have dropped year-over-year due to the carbon tax pause.
“Still down about $0.24 a liter in Manitoba from last year. That's thanks to the carbon tax pause,” he adds.
Diesel price trends
Regarding diesel, De Haan says prices have been relatively stable in Manitoba, hovering around 140 to 143 cents per litre.
“Diesel prices have been holding relatively stable in Manitoba, averaging about 1:40. 143 point. To that was a bit of a jump about a penny, a leader from where we were in late July,” he notes.
He attributes previous diesel price jumps to concerns about sanctions affecting Russian diesel production, as well as inventory shortages.
“Diesel inventories have been running relatively low. As we get closer to the cold weather... we’re going to see a big jump in diesel consumption and also heating oil consumption will likely start to pick up.”
Looking ahead
De Haan expects diesel prices could continue rising heading into cooler months due to increased demand for heating and farm equipment fuel.
He concludes by advising consumers to watch for ongoing price fluctuations as global and local factors evolve.
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