Gas is the cheapest it has been in Alberta since the province stopped collecting its fuel tax.
The lowest price in Calgary on Saturday, Nov. 7 was $1.18 a litre, at the Costco on Buffalo Run Boulevard. In Edmonton, three Costco locations were at $1.22 on Sunday morning. Most stations in both cities are sitting between $1.29 and $1.40.
Two weeks ago, both cities were above $1.50.
Calgary: cheapest stations and the average
Calgary’s average for regular gas was $1.343 a litre on Sunday morning, Nov. 8, across 286 stations reporting in the previous 36 hours. One week earlier, on Nov. 2, the average was $1.508. That is a 16-cent drop in seven days.
The cheapest reported prices on Sunday morning:
Costco, 12905 Buffalo Run Blvd. SW (Tsuut’ina): $1.19 (members only)
Tsuut’ina Gas, 5898 Weaselhead Rd.: $1.21
Tsuut’ina Gas Stop, 9915 Chiila Blvd.: $1.21
Petro-Canada, 1840 9 Ave. SE: $1.22
Costco, 75 East Hills Blvd. SE: $1.23 (members only)
The $1.18 Saturday price at Buffalo Run had ticked up a cent by Sunday. The Tempo on Macleod Trail was at $1.25 Saturday, and a long list of stations were at $1.29 or less.
Edmonton: cheapest stations and the average
Edmonton’s average was $1.384 on Sunday morning across 242 stations, down from $1.519 on Nov. 2. That is a 13.5-cent drop in a week, a bit less than Calgary’s, and Edmonton remains about four cents more expensive on average.
The cheapest reported prices on Sunday morning:
Costco, 10220 186 St. NW: $1.22 (members only)
Costco, 7259 Winterburn Rd. NW: $1.22 (members only)
Costco, 12450 149 St. NW: $1.22 (members only)
Domo, 9255 34 Ave. NW: $1.23
Esso, 16002 114 Ave. NW: $1.23
The Costco on Ebbers Boulevard in the northeast was also reported at $1.22. If you are not a member, Domo and the west-end Esso are the ones to aim for.
Prices are driver-reported and change through the day. Check the sign before you commit to a detour.
What a fill-up costs now
| Tank | At $1.22 | At $1.34 | At $1.51 (Nov. 2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 litres | $48.80 | $53.60 | $60.40 |
| 60 litres | $73.20 | $80.40 | $90.60 |
| 80 litres | $97.60 | $107.20 | $120.80 |
On a 60-litre tank, the average Calgary driver is paying about $10 less than a week ago. Finding a $1.22 station instead of a $1.34 one saves another $7.20, which is worth a few blocks but not a trip across the city.
Why prices fell
Oil. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped more than 13 per cent over the two weeks before Nov. 7 and was trading under US$87.50 by midweek. Traders have been pricing in the U.S. midterm results and the prospect of more oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz if the Iran conflict winds down.
Pump prices follow crude with a lag of a week or two, which is why the drop showed up at Alberta stations at the end of the first week of November. Retail competition then pushes it further: once one station on a corner cuts, the others follow.
Premier Danielle Smith took credit for some of it on her Saturday call-in show, calling the gap between Alberta and B.C. “another Alberta advantage.” The cheapest gas in the Vancouver area on Saturday was $1.75. The cheapest in Toronto on Sunday was $1.37.
Alberta’s fuel tax: what has to happen for it to come back
Alberta stopped collecting its 13-cent-a-litre fuel tax on gasoline and diesel on Oct. 1. The pause runs through Dec. 31. On a 60-litre fill, the tax alone is $7.80.
Whether it comes back on Jan. 1 depends on the price of oil, not the price at the pump.
The province’s fuel tax relief program reviews the rate every quarter, on Jan. 1, April 1, July 1 and Oct. 1, based on the average WTI price over a 20-trading-day window before the review. Relief kicks in when that average is at least US$80. The window that triggered the current pause, Aug. 18 to Sept. 15, averaged US$90.54.
Under the program’s published schedule, the tax is zero when WTI averages US$90 or more, 4.5 cents between US$85 and US$89.99, and nine cents between US$80 and US$84.99. Below US$80, the full 13 cents applies. Increases are capped at nine cents a litre per quarter.
So here is the catch for drivers: the same falling crude that is cutting pump prices now could bring part of the tax back in January. At the current WTI price, around US$87, the schedule would point to a 4.5-cent tax. The province has said only that it “will determine the best options to ensure relief reaches Albertans” after the next review. The federal fuel excise tax pause has been extended to the end of January under proposed legislation.
If you applied for the $100 energy rebate before it closed Oct. 31, that money is separate from the fuel tax and still coming. Our explainer on the fuel tax suspension has the full background.
How long will it last?
Nobody knows, and anyone who tells you otherwise is guessing. Crude could keep sliding or bounce on the next headline out of the Middle East. What is known: the tax pause holds through Dec. 31, crude is down sharply, and Alberta’s two biggest cities have some of the cheapest gas in the country. If you have been waiting to fill up, this is the stretch.
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