Gas prices plummet in Metro Vancouver

The international glut in oil supplies is offering a break to motorists in the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley.

The price has fallen to 79.9 cents per litre at two East Vancouver gas stations—the Super Save at East 12th Avenue and Clark Drive and the Petro-Canada at East Broadway and Clark Drive.

That's according to gasbuddy.com.

The same website reports that in Abbotsford, gas prices have dropped as low as 74.9 cents a litre at many stations.

A year ago, gas prices reached $1.70 per litre in Metro Vancouver, due to a shortage of refining capacity.

That prompted a provincial review, which found there was an "unexplained difference" of 13 cents a litre compared to other markets, costing B.C. consumers $490 million per year.

The NDP government responded by passing the Fuel Price Transparency Act in the fall session of the legislature.

The COVID-19 pandemic has sharply curtailed the use of oil around the world, causing prices to fall sharply on international markets.

On Friday (April 24), the S&P Global Platts managing editor of American tanker markets, Barbara Troner, noted in a podcast that worldwide demand for oil fell by 18 million barrels per day in April. She added that this demand is expected to fall 17 million barrels per day in May.

Troner pointed out that an increasing amount of the surplus supply is being stored at sea on tankers because land-based tank farms have already been filled to capacity.

And she doubted that OPEC's production cut of 9.5 million barrels per day would come close to addressing the oversupply issue.