Canada Advised To Brace For Further Jump In Gas Price

Residents across Canada have been advised to brace for a further jump in the prices of gasoline, spurred by the cold weather that stalled the shipment of petroleum on frozen waterways, as well as refinery labour disruptions in the U.S. and the weak Canadian dollar.

A report by Global News said a rise of as much as eight cents per litre could occur in a number of Canadian cities in the next 24 to 48 hours alone. Currently, a litre of regular gasoline in Canada is priced $1.04 on the average, according to price-tracking website Gasbuddy.com. Across the nation, it ranges from 90 cents in Manitoba to $1.14 in Quebec.

Dan McTeague, gas price analyst at gasbuddy.com, forecast the following price increases:

• Two cents up a litre in the Greater Toronto area
• Four cents more per litre at Vancouver
• Pump prices to “remain stable” over the next few days in Calgary; possibly a two-cent rise next week
• A two-cent rise also to occur in Edmonton for next week
• A whopping eight cent jump per litre for those in Winnipeg, possibly by Monday or Tuesday
• Four cents up per litre by next week for Montreal
• A three cent bump before the weekend for Halifax

The jump in prices of gasoline was an event waiting to be happening. “There’s no scarcity of oil at the moment but there is for gasoline in certain markets,” McTeague said. “This cold weather has stopped a lot refineries in their tracks.”

Although the events happened almost simultaneously, McTeague said Canadians have nothing to be extra dubious about that. “The fundamentals are there. These are realities.”