Do you remember a time when $20 was enough to almost fill the gas tank in a car? Unfortunately, most new drivers won’t.
While gas prices jumped back above the $1 mark earlier this month, they were hovering in the 90 cent range for a brief stint at the end of April. Those prices, according to data from Statistics Canada, haven’t consistently been seen in Greater Victoria since 2009.
Data from Statistics Canada shows the average monthly retail price for regular unleaded gas was 99.4 cents per litre last month, down from 126.3 in March, 143.2 in February and 139.7 in January. The average price for all of 2019 was 141.82 cents per litre.
Historically, average prices in Greater Victoria reached a high of 161.3 in May 2019 and haven’t dipped below the $1 mark since February 2016, when they dropped to 98.1 cents per litre. Other than another brief dip to 98.9 cents per litre in January 2015, prices haven’t consistently been below the $1 mark since a six-month stretch at the end of 2008 that lasted into April 2009.
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As of Monday, May 18, average gas prices in Greater Victoria had not moved for the past week, sitting at 105.71 cents per litre, according to GasBuddy. By Thursday, prices at the pump jumped to range as high ast 117.9 in Greater Victoria.
The national average increased by 1.2 cents per litre during that week, sitting at 89.75.
While well above the national average, prices in Greater Victoria were down 55.8 cents per litre compared to May 18, 2019. However, they were up 8.9 cents compared to April.
