What's next for fuel prices?

A litre of regular gasoline in Estevan can now be purchased for less than $1.70 at some locations - a decrease of more than 30 cents per litre since early July.

GasBuddy Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan said a number of factors that have contributed to oil prices plummeting in recent weeks.

“It’s because of economic concerns. The U.S. now has seen two back-to-back quarters of negative GDP, so they are rising risks that major economies in Europe, China, and the U.S. could be slipping into a slowdown or recession, which will generally curb the use of oil. The imbalances brought on by COVID-19 have lingered into this year. Then they were exasperated by Russia’s war on Ukraine. I’ve never seen this amount of volatility in my career doing this, it’s just been off the charts.”

Saskatchewan’s average gasoline price is 168.3 cents per litre on Tuesday. The price drops have been seen across the country as the most expensive fuel is listed at 205.9 in Terrace, BC. Prices in Lac la Biche, Alta., have dropped 28 cents down to 129.9 making it the cheapest price in Canada.

In the coming weeks, DeHaan is hopeful that motorists will continue to get relief at the pumps as he is forecasting prices to continue to go down.

“I’m hopeful that if we can avoid disruptions and things like hurricanes it’s not impossible we could see another drop like that in the next couple of weeks.”

The average price of gas last August was around $1.31 per litre in Saskatoon and Regina, according to Statistics Canada.