A Prince George convenience store selling gasoline at $2.16.9 per litre is the most expensive fuel from here to Salmon Arm.
That’s according to one motorist filling up his fleet vehicle Tuesday afternoon at the 7-Eleven/Esso station at 1588 20th Ave.
“I came from Salmon Arm to Prince George today and I wasn’t actively looking at all of them, but I’ll tell you right now this one looks to be the most expensive one,” said Jason K., who declined giving his last name.
The Citizen informed the man that at the Esso convenience store at 1977 Queensway, about a kilometre east of the 7-Eleven, a litre of gas is selling at $189.9.
“I was just on my way out of town,” he said. “I was going to go in and buy a coffee and some snacks but now I know (the price down the road) I definitely won’t be buying that here.”
Tony Kramer was shocked to learn the gas he was putting into his car was 27 cents per litre more expensive than at another station in virtually the same downtown neighbourhood. Multiplied by a tank capacity of 60 litres, that’s a $16.20 price variation.
“That’s a huge difference,” Kramer said. “If I had known that I wouldn’t have come here. It does make me mad.”
Costco has the cheapest gas in town, at $181.9. Tano Fuel, northeast of the city at Shelley, has the region’s best deal for gas at $1.69.9.
“Twenty-seven cents cheaper, I think I’ll get my fuel next time at the Queensway (gas station),” said A.J. Kumar. “I don’t know why they do that? That’s $2.16 - it’s so expensive around here. There shouldn’t be that big of a price difference in the same town if you are selling the same fuel, right?”
Kumar thinks the provincial government should step in and regulate how much profit retailers can rake in at the pumps.
“They should,” he said. “We have to have to gas. It’s an essential in our life right now. I use it to get to work (near the airport) and for my other personal usage. I don’t know if we can survive without gas. If they keep hiking the price for months we’ll have to go back to bicycles.”
Gas dropped below $2 per litre two weeks ago.
On June 22, the Alberta government reduced its fuel tax by 13 cents per litre for a three-month period. So far, there has been no indication the B.C. government will follow suit.
In Edmonton, at the UFA on 121st Avenue, gas was selling for $1.32.7, while the Costco in the Edmonton suburb of Nisku was at $1.36.9. In Fort St. John, the price at the Husky Cardlock on Tuesday was $1.56.8.
In Vancouver, which has an 18 cent-per-litre municipal tax added in, the average price for a litre of gasoline is $1.90, according to the B.C. Automobile Association.
To find out who has cheapest gas in Prince George, go to the Citizen website.
