Several people who spoke to Radio-Canada said they made the trip to Ottawa this weekend just to fill up their tanks. “Everything is higher [in cost] now, so if we can save money, we’ll come,” said Gatineau, Que., resident Suzanne Tanguay as she filled up at a Petro-Canada on Montreal Road. For the first time in six months, prices fell below $1.60 a liter this weekend, with some Ottawa gas stations selling gas for as much as $1.54 a litre. It’s a sharp drop considering that less than two months ago, on June 11, gas stations in Ottawa hit a record price of nearly $2.16 a litre. Meanwhile, gas prices at some Gatineau gas stations were hovering around $1.86 a liter on Saturday. Suzanne Tanguay, a resident of Gatineau, Que., was one of several western Quebec residents who said they traveled to Ontario to fill up Saturday. (Olivier Periard/Radio-Canada)
Quebec prices could fall, says expert
According to Jean-Thomas Bernard, a University of Ottawa professor specializing in energy market analysis, natural gas distributors in both Quebec and Ontario share the same suppliers, who charge them the same. However, in Ontario, the provincial government’s decision to lower the natural gas tax rate from 14.7 cents per liter to nine cents per liter last month has reduced gas prices across the province. That means the profit margin for Ontario distributors is also shrinking, according to Bernard. “So distributors in Quebec make more money than distributors here in Ottawa,” he said. But Gatineau residents may soon no longer have to come to Ottawa for their natural gas: Bernard said he expects prices in Quebec to drop as distributors try to stay competitive with Ontario and avoid losing customers. “I think the consumer in Quebec will have to deal with a lower price in the not-too-distant future,” he said.
