A Petroleum Analyst with Gasbuddy.com says twinning the Trans-Mountain pipeline could have an impact on gas prices in B.C.

Patrick DeHaan says having the ability to ship more volume if refineries go down is paramount and would alleviate some of the kink in getting product to market. “I know that when more capacity exists, when you talk about pipelines, it generally enhances the ability for a market to have lower prices. More capacity, whether most of the day it’s going to be shipping heavy oil or not, it’s that, that pipeline exists.” DeHaan says when there’s the potential for more capacity, it generally enhances the ability for a market to have lower prices.

The province announced in May that it was launching an inquiry into gas prices, and now it is looking to complete that report by the end of August. Most companies were unwilling to provide the province with their profit margins despite the government saying that information would remain confidential. DeHaan says it is unlikely that the report will bring forward any new information or prove that there is any collusion among oil company’s when it comes to price fixing. He also  doesn’t know if a three month timeline is long enough to truly study all the factors at play. One concern he has with the inquiry is that it’s not looking into the taxation of fuel.  “There’s just a myriad of problems that could cause Vancouver to go much higher and I think taxation certainly is a big part. But, from time to time, when there is problems with refineries in the west coast, the ability to get that material from elsewhere in the country is causing prices to soar and we are seeing it not only in Canada, but in the western U.S. as well.”

While in Victoria last week, the Prime Minister said Ottawa is open to proposals from the private sector for a refinery in B.C. DeHaan says even if there’s interest, it would take five to 10 years before anything could be permitted because there is just so much that goes into it.

By Jeff Andreas