Ottawa gas prices to drop to lowest level in six months this weekend

Ottawa motorists will enjoy some relief at the gas pumps this weekend, with gas prices set to drop to their lowest levels since February.

After a 12 cents a litre decrease in prices at Ottawa stations over the past two days, Canadians for Affordable Energy President Dan McTeague says prices will drop eight cents a litre on Saturday, with another two or three cent a litre decrease possible on Sunday.

"The prices we're going to pay (Saturday) are similar to what we paid back in February – February 27. It's been six months since we've seen this kind of prices," McTeague told Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa at Work.

Gas prices dropped six cents a litre on Thursday to $173.9 cents a litre, with another six cents a litre drop on Friday bringing the price to $1.679 a litre. Some stations were selling gas for as low as $1.659 a litre Friday afternoon.

"I woke up this morning and I'm like, 'Holy crap, gas is like, is this a joke?'" said Stephanie Mercanti.

"The relief is going to help me a lot more," said Tania St. Pierre. "So I’m able to go father. Go longer. Help more clients."

The personal support worker says they were probably spending $60 to $70 a day on gas.

"My job means so much to me, being a personal support worker, helping these seniors, people with disabilities. I will take the hit to help them. So with this gas relief, it’s a break for me," St. Pierre said.

The price of a litre of gas in Ottawa hit a record 215.9 cents on June 11.

With McTeague forecasting an eight cent a litre drop in gas prices on Saturday to $1.599 a litre, that will mean gas prices have dropped 56 cents a litre in less than two months.

"These are very welcome prices, but the problem with all this is … don't take it for granted and don't expect it to last, because the markets I think are overestimating the amount of demand drop we've seen in the United States and underestimating the severest supply shortage that we're having," McTeague said.

Gas prices have been on the decline since mid-June amid a drop in demand and rising fears about a recession. The Ontario government cut the gas tax rate on July 1 from 14.7 cents per litre to 9 cents per litre.

McTeague expects to see gas prices begin to rise next Friday, with higher prices coming by the end of August.

"Prices are likely to snap right back as violently as anything we've seen."

According to ottawagasprices.com, the average price of gasoline in Ottawa was $1.32 a litre in August 2021 and near 92 cents a litre in August 2020.