Alberta Fuel Prices Soar Amid Global Supply Disruptions

Residents in Westlock, Alberta are feeling the pinch as rising fuel prices continue to strain household budgets across the region. Cindy Hillier, a 67-year-old senior on a fixed income, expressed frustration at filling up her vehicle, saying 'They suck.' She noted that gas prices in Alberta used to hover between $1.40 and $1.50 per litre for a long time, but have suddenly surged.

Hillier pays 30 percent of her gross annual income of $25,000 toward rent and recently paid over $50 just to fill half a tank in her 2024 Toyota RAV4 while travelling from southern Alberta to visit her cousin in the province's north. 'Do our cheques go up? No. But the cost of living and gas goes up,' Hillier said.

Gitane De Silva, executive director of the Peter Lougheed School of Politics and Democracy at the University of Alberta, explained that global supply disruptions are driving local pump prices higher. Uncertainty over the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a transit point for 20 percent of the world's oil, has reduced global supply.