Gasoline:
Retail gasoline prices declined 9.4 cents per litre to 128.1 in December
In December, gasoline prices in Canada fell by 9.4 cents per litre, ending the month at 128.1 cents per litre, reaching the lowest level since April 2021 on December 29 at 127.1 cents per litre.
Gasoline prices fell in December as crude oil prices declined and gasoline refining margins contracted. Ongoing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in December raised optimism that a deal could be reached and led to lower crude oil prices, with both benchmarks, WTI and Brent, reaching their lowest levels since February 2021 mid-month. Additionally, lower seasonal demand for gasoline led gasoline margins to contract in December, averaging at an eleven-month low for the month and 8.1 cents per litre lower than in November. Overall, gasoline prices in Canada ended the year 27.3 cents per litre lower than the end of last year, mainly attributable to lower crude prices and lower petroleum taxes with the removal of carbon taxes in most provinces earlier this year.
In December, the market with the largest price decline was observed in Gatineau, Quebec, where prices fell 23.0 cents per litre to end the month at 124.9. Only one surveyed market experienced an increase in gasoline prices over the month. This was in Calgary, Alberta, where retail gasoline prices rose 4.0 cents per litre to end the month at 118.9. Overall, by the end of December, the market with the highest gasoline price was recorded in Whitehorse, Yukon, at 149.9 cents per litre, while the lowest price was in Edmonton, Alberta, at 107.4 cents per litre.
Diesel:
Retail diesel prices declined 12.2 cents per litre to 145.5 in December
In December, Canadian diesel prices fell more than gasoline prices, declining by a substantial 12.2 cents per litre to end the month at 145.5.
As with gasoline prices, lower crude oil prices contributed to lower retail diesel prices, as did contracting diesel refining margins. Although the seasonal demand for home heating fuel increases in winter months, a fuel similar to diesel fuel, which generally leads to expanding refining margins for retail diesel fuel during winter, rising North American distillate stocks in December allowed retail diesel margins to contract. Additionally, several factors which had constrained global distillate inventories in October and November, such as EU sanctions against the Russian oil industry, ongoing attacks by Ukraine on Russian oil infrastructure, and other refinery issues and maintenance abroad, which limited distillate inventories, appeared to ease in December. Overall, diesel retail prices in Canada ended the year 24.3 cents per litre lower than the end of last year, driven by lower crude oil prices and the removal of carbon taxes. However, declines in retail diesel prices were limited by widening distillate refining margins in the latter half of the year.
All surveyed markets experienced a decline in retail diesel prices in December, except in Whitehorse, Yukon, where prices were unchanged from the end of November. The largest price decrease occurred in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, where prices declined 20.3 cents per litre in December, ending the month at 153.7 in Vancouver and 147.1 in Victoria. Overall, by the end of December, the highest retail diesel price in Canada was recorded in Val D’Or, Quebec, at 177.6 cents per litre, while the lowest price was observed in Windsor, Ontario, at 131.2 cents per litre.
We conduct a daily survey of retail gasoline, diesel, propane, and furnace fuel prices in 77 Canadian cities.
Canadian petroleum prices are available for download and display using a variety of analytic tools on our website: Charting.kalibrate.com/
