After a few weeks of Moose Jaw gas prices staying somewhat stagnant, a petroleum expert says that motorists will begin to see reprieve at the pumps once again in the coming months.  

Patrick DeHaan, a Petroleum Analyst with GasBuddy says that by Christmas time, he is forecasting prices will drop below the current 159.9 cents per litre average. 

“So long there are no unexpected disruptions or shifts in the geopolitical climate, gas prices tend to be a bit lower heading into the fall and winter because demand declines,” says DeHaan.  

Additionally, DeHaan mentioned that motorists will begin to see prices at the pump drop slightly in about three weeks, due to stations switching their summer gas over to their winter supply.  

“Winter gasoline is cheaper to produce, components are not as costly, as they are for summer gasoline,” adds DeHaan.  

As of Friday, prices in Moose Jaw are hovering between 155.9 to 169.9 cents per litre, depending on where you are in the city. On Friday, the most expensive gas price in Canada can be found in Golden, BC, at 199.9 cents per litre, with Alberta’s Lac la Biche charging the least for gas at 127.9. 

A few months ago, prices within the city and province were at all-time highs peaking at 206.9 back in June, which at the time was the highest Moose Jaw had ever seen dating back to 2008. Following the peak, prices have gone down by 51 cents, which was contributed by some instability in the US.  

“A lot of economic concerns of a slowdown, the Federal Reserve in the US continues to raise interest rates, which could choke off economic growth and it could cause a decline in consumption.” 

“At the same time, you have OPEC (Organizing of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), which is starting to talk about cutting oil production and we are in the midst of hurricane season. There are still some issues to cause prices to go up in the long run, but I'm hopeful barring any curveballs, we could see some relief by the end of the year.” 

Though 155.9 cents per litre is much better than the 206.9 motorists were paying a few months ago, the question remains will prices ever go back to where they were throughout the pandemic? 

“No, that was a function of COVID. That was a function of a far different situation combined with the fact that now we’ve gone from an economic recession returning to growth, the demand for gasoline has gone up significantly. It’s not realistic to expect or see gas bars under a $1/litre for some time.” 

He mentioned that the only way Canada will ever see record-low prices again is if there was another global pandemic or a massive recession or depression.  

DeHaan did allude to the fact that though gas will be going down, diesel will actually increase from its current state.  

“Diesel is a heating oil and of course, heating oil demand goes up in the colder months.” 

Along with the demand for diesel in the winter months, Russia’s current boycott of distributing natural gas to Europe could see prices of diesel increase as well. As of Friday, the price of diesel in Moose Jaw ranges from 187.9 to 199.9.