You may want to fill up your vehicle's gas tank today, if your weekend plans include a lot of driving around town.
Fuel prices in the Tri-Cities have gone up by nearly 20 cents in the last week as a result of market volatility south of the border.
The cheapest available is 187.9 cents per litre at two locations — the Lougheed Highway Husky in Port Coquitlam and St Johns Street Chevron in Port Moody.
That's almost a 10 per cent jump compared to the 171.9 cents a litre at Costco's gas bar (2370 Ottawa St.) from last Friday (May 19).
And the number is currently the second lowest in Metro Vancouver, as of this publication (May 26).
You can find a list of the Tri-Cities' cheapest available gas below.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.com, said the large fluctuation gap is due to "volatility in oil prices" linked to "U.S. debt ceiling discussions."
The U.S. government reached the $31.4-trillion debt limit in January, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has resorted to "extraordinary measures" since then to keep paying the bills.
Gas prices could continue to climb up locally over the next few weeks, particularly if they reach an agreement, De Haan noted.
"I'm hopeful that summer will be mostly spent under the $2/litre mark in B.C., but there could be some developments such as economic, refinery issues or hurricanes that drive prices up," he said.
The Tri-Cities' average gas price is just under 190.5 cents per litre, an increase of 13 cents from last week.
GasBuddy.com says the cheapest option in the Lower Mainland is Aldergrove's Canco outlet offering 180.9 cents per litre.
Meanwhile, the least expensive fuel in all of B.C. is in the interior and northern regions.
Super Save station in Salmon Arm (50 3rd St. NW) still holds the title of cheapest gas stop in the province, having only increased its price by one cent in the last week to 161.9 per litre.
Tri-Cities' top 10 cheap fuel prices
The following prices are the best available in the Tri-Cities as of 10:30 a.m. today:
- 187.9/L @ Husky (2649 Lougheed Hwy., Port Coquitlam)
- 187.9/L @ Chevron (2706 St Johns St., Port Moody)
- 188.9/L @ Petro-Canada (1523 Prairie Ave., Port Coquitlam)
- 190.3/L @ Shell (1190 Pitt River Rd., Port Coquitlam)
- 190.9/L @ Chevron (2525 Shaughnessy St., Port Coquitlam)
- 190.9/L @ Chevron (2705 Lougheed Hwy., Port Coquitlam)
- 191.9/L @ Esso (1130 Johnson St., Coquitlam)
- 191.9/L @ Chevron (945 Brunette Ave., Coquitlam)
- 191.9/L @ Esso and Smart Stop 24/7 (1707 Austin Ave., Coquitlam)
- 191.9/L @ Mobil and Real Canadian Superstore (1301 Lougheed Hwy., Coquitlam)
- with files from Elana Shepert, Vancouver Is Awesome, and The Canadian Press
