The stretch of Hwy 97A at the southern tip of Enderby may have been the busiest place in British Columbia on Wednesday afternoon.
The reason for significant crowds and lineups in the area was the price of fuel plummeting to $1 per litre at a pair of gas stations.
Drivers were clearly excited about the opportunity to save some money as gas surpasses $2 per litre in much of the province.
.jpg)
While there isn’t exactly a clear explanation for the shocking gas prices on Wednesday, at least by 2026 standards, it looks to have happened because of a grand opening celebration.
The 100% Indigenous-owned Charlie’s Gen7 gas station opened in March, but celebrated their official grand opening on May 6 by incrementally dropping the price of fuel.
It went from 164.9 cents per litre to 139.9 to 120.9 and finally 100.9 before finally ticking back up to 120.9 in the evening.
Down the street, the Splatsin-owned Quilakwa Canco responded by dropping the price of fuel to 99.9 cents per litre, getting into the grand opening celebration fun with a bit of a gas war move.
“A moment of time travel? Regular gas for 99.9 cents per litre at Quilakwa Canco,” said a post on the Splatsin Facebook page.
“Feels like 2004 called and left gas prices behind. This little blast from the past probably won’t last long, so some fill up while you can!”
The result was organized chaos, with significant lineups at both stations that needed traffic control personnel to ensure things ran smoothly.
Unfortunately, it appears to have only been a one-day treat for drivers who were lucky enough to be in the area, as gas has jumped back up to 187.9 cents per litre at both stations.
