Gas and diesel prices expected to climb in Sask. again this fall

Despite a brief reprieve from record-breaking gas and diesel prices, the cost at the pump is expected to begin rising again in the fall.

Dan McTeague, the president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, said fuel prices will more than likely be 15 to 20 cents higher than they are right now by the time Christmas rolls around.

After highs of $2.08 for regular unleaded gasoline in Saskatchewan this summer, McTeague said the most recent drop can be attributed to demand destruction.

“There are really two markets at play here, there’s the physical one, that’s folks that are involved with the trade of oil and petroleum products and then there is what I call the paper market or what some people call the futures markets,” McTeague said.

“They’re all about the headlines and until recently have been trading down the value of oil, gasoline and diesel.”

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McTegaue said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has decided this trading down trend is no longer feasible, which means the significant decrease in energy prices resulting in a decrease at the pumps has more than likely dipped as low as it’s going to go.

“Going forward I think we’re going to be looking at prices bouncing back, not as much as they did but certainly coming back to where we saw them a little while ago,” he said.

After Sept. 15, the winter mix of gasoline arrives in Saskatchewan, but McTeague said not to expect much of a change, as it will likely only drop prices by four or five cents at the most.

The price of regular gasoline was around a $1.55 per litre in Regina and Saskatoon on Tuesday. McTeague said to expect prices to remain stable for a couple more weeks before the increases become more consistent and steady.

“We’ve hit the bottom here in terms of the markets in Chicago,” McTeague said. “Gasoline is going to start to go up, diesel is going through the roof.”

While gasoline prices are not expected to reach the $2.00 range this year in Saskatchewan, McTeague said current trends are pointing to that reality once again in spring 2023.