Drivers with an aptitude for pinching pennies had a heyday on Monday when Kamloops gas prices bottomed out to rival the cheapest fuel in the country.

When many of the city's motorists were filling up to head to campsites or cottages on Friday, drivers were paying about 122.9 per litre of unleaded.

By Monday afternoon, those prices had tumbled to 111.9, causing even many service station managers to scratch their heads.

By one theory, the low cost is a happy consequence of old-fashioned rivalry.

"As far as I know - and I don't know if this is true - it started about a year ago when Costco first came and opened up with their gas prices. Chevron wanted to challenge them," said Chevron assistant manager Josh Parent.

"I've just never seen it go this long before."

But Chevron and Costco aren't the only ones in the price-slashing pack. The Kamloops Husky, Petro-Canada, Shell and 7-Eleven stations were also among the top 16 cheapest gas prices in the country on Monday - all with a price of 111.9 per litre.

Other Kamloops service-station clerks referred questions to head offices. Calls to those fuel providers were not returned on holiday Monday.

The only other area in Canada with lower prices was the Edmonton region, which saw prices hovering around 108 per litre. The provincial average on Monday was 113.5.

The Shell station in Vegreville, 100 kilometres east of that city, earned the distinction of cheapest gas in the country with 104.9 per litre.

Monday's average for B.C. was 134.5 per litre.

A Richmond Shell station had the highest price in the country at 148.9 per litre, just a shade above Vancouver's 143.4 average.