Monday, August 9, 2010

Cheapest Places to Live: Cheapest Gas

I was reading my newsfeed this morning and came across a headline about the Cheapest Places to Buy Petrol (Gasoline) in Australia. It got me to thinking about where the cheap places are to buy gas here in North America.

I always find it interesting to read about and also to explore and observe when I'm traveling how buying, shopping and changes depending on where I am. For example, in Central Canada (Ontario) competition, although not nearly as aggressive as in the United States, is still somewhat alive. Sometimes radio stations or bloggers will post where the least expensive stations are or when there is a 'gas war' on. It doesn't happen that often but when it does it's nice to take advantage of the lower prices. When I travel to the U.S. I am always amazed at how much more competitive it can be. It's a very refreshing change from Canada where the oil companies basically have a monopoly and love to put the screws to Canadians. In the U.S. you can see different prices on every corner - that is cool. In Western Canada, particularly Vancouver and Victoria there does not appear to be any competition whatsoever. Every gas station charges exactly the same amount and if the price goes up or down they seem to make the change in the middle of the night. One exception to this which is a bit of fresh air - pardon the completely inappropriate use of the term! - is the addition of gas service at many CostCo Wholesale locations. Finally a bit of competition! Typically gas at CostCo will run 4 to 5 cents per litre less than the regular gas stations all round.

Back to Australia for a moment - the average price if Petrol (Gas) has been declining and is now down to 125.5 cents per litre in average across the country. Canberra is the Cheapest City for fuel at 120.9 cents per litre.

It would be nice to see a report for gas prices across Canada and the U.S.A. It may have some impact on where to find the cheapest places to by a car and also the cost of gas is a big part of our cost of living so it may just help when trying to anser hat question, 'Where Should I Live?'


Read the Aussie article here Cheapest Places to Buy Petrol| Switzer

No comments: