After a winter of relative affordability, Metro Vancouver drivers may notice the price at the pumps jumped significantly overnight Friday.
GasBuddy.com estimates the average price per litre to be around $1.72 Friday morning, after averaging around $1.67 Thursday.
The price has been trending upwards since early December 2025, but averaged around $1.50 per litre just one month ago.
In a statement to 1130 NewsRadio, analysts attribute the climbing price to several factors, including most retailers switching back to the summer gasoline formula.
More critically, GasBuddy.com reports that another oil refinery in California’s Bay Area is on the verge of closing.
“After the shutdown finishes in April, California will have lost 20 per cent of its refining capacity, and that’s behind the big jump in not only B.C., but down in the States as well,” GasBuddy.com explained.
It says a lack of refining capacity is becoming “more problematic.”
As of Friday morning, some Vancouver stations have listed prices as high as $1.83 per litre.