With the price at the pump rising, largely due to the war in Iran, drivers now have a new tool at their fingertips to help them find the cheapest gas around them.
The Régie de l’énergie launched an interactive map of more than 2,100 gas stations across Quebec with prices updated in real time.
The prices for regular, premium, and diesel fuel are regularly updated directly by the Régie de l’énergie. The site uses data provided directly by gas station operators, as opposed to sites like GasBuddy, which primarily rely on input from users.
Users of the new interactive map can simply zoom in on the area where they are or search for an address before driving to the gas station, allowing people to compare prices from different suppliers.
At around 2 p.m. Wednesday, the site was showing prices as high as 197.9 cents/litre in Montreal, mostly in the city’s east end.
However, some locations in the West Island and elsewhere were reporting prices at 192.9 cents per litre.
When is a good time to fill up?
Despite those high prices, CAA Quebec recommends motorists fill up now. The average price in Montreal is lower than the “realistic” price of 200 cents per litre.
The average price in Montreal in the early afternoon hours was 195.7 cents per litre.
Oil prices fell back toward US$100 per barrel after U.S. President Donald Trump said the military could end its war in Iran in about two to three weeks.
Iran has blocked traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which is the waterway through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil travels to other markets. Oil prices have skyrocketed since the war broke out more than a month ago.
Fill up the tank before holiday weekend, expert recommends
Markets are responding to the news that the Iran war doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon, according to gas price analyst Dan McTeague.
“We’re seeing energy futures skyrocket, especially West Texas Intermediate, which has been fairly mute throughout all this. That’s the oil used for most of North America. It’s now up $13, $14 a barrel. And that, of course, means that rather than gas prices dropping, as they were starting to do tomorrow, in which they will do tomorrow here in Montreal, they’re actually going to start to go up starting as early as Saturday,” McTeague said in an interview on Thursday.
Drivers looking for a bit of relief should fill their tanks on Friday, before the Easter weekend.
“I’m in Montreal. I’m driving in Longueuil, I’m driving in Beaconsfield, you know, take your pick, Brossard, I’m going to be buying my gasoline after 6 p.m. on Friday,” said McTeague, who is the president of Canadians for Affordable Energy (CAE). “I’ll probably save as much as seven or eight cents a litre compared to what I’m going to be paying the next day.”
Carol Montreuil, the vice-president for eastern Canada at the Canadian Fuel Association, said the price of gas has risen about 40 per cent since the start of the war in the Middle East, while diesel has gone up by approximately 50 per cent, which affects trucks, rail, planes, and other modes of transportation, leading to impacts across several sectors of the economy.
“It is very unfortunate that things are not easing up. Instead of witnessing de-escalation, we’re witnessing escalation, and nothing President Trump said last night is reassuring,” Montreal said.
When the price at the pump surpasses $2 per litre, that’s when most consumers adjust their driving habits, leading to people lowering their consumption and choosing alternative transportation options, he said.
With files from CTV News’ Christine Long
