End of price war sends gasoline cost shooting up in Calgary

The price of gasoline is on its way up.

Fuels at some Calgary pumps jumped 18 to 20 cents overnight, marking the end of a gas price war, according to a petroleum analyst.

Gasoline prices are likely to stay in the 80-cents-per-litre range for a while, said Roger McKnight of En-Pro International.

"What's happening in the Calgary market now — we have seen it also in Saskatchewan — is we have had a price war going on where the price was down to 60-70 cents a litre, and all of a sudden it jumps up to about 82 cents or so," he said.

Demand is very low right now as drivers stay off the road during the COVID-19 pandemic, McKnight noted. So oil companies have been trying to protect their market share by keeping prices low.

Midwest refineries are now cutting back production due to an oversupply of crude oil in the market, he said, and that will likely stabilize the price at the pumps.

Some northwest Calgary gas stations were posting prices in the 80-cents-per-litre range as of Wednesday.

Gas prices dropped in early March to around that 80 cents mark amid global economic struggles and a crude war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Prices then dropped further into the 60 and even 50 cent ranges in recent weeks.

Currently in Alberta, the lowest gasoline prices are at Edmonton stations, with prices posted around 54.9 cents a litre, according to price tracker Gas Buddy.

One station in Calgary's northwest, a Costco outlet, offered that price on Wednesday. Several others continued to offer gas in that 55-65 cent range.