Average Gasoline Prices Up 3.8 Per Cent in Canada to $1.079 Over Week Before

MONTREAL (CP) – The average retail price of gasoline in Canada has jumped by 3.8 per cent since last week to $1.079 a litre and experts predict more increases are on the way.

MJ Ervin & Associates Inc. of Calgary, which surveys pump prices weekly, reported Tuesday that regular gas prices Tuesday ranged from $1.244 in Labrador City, N.L., an increase of 5.2 per cent over the previous week, to a low of 93.4 cents in Lethbridge in southern Alberta, a drop of 0.4 per cent.

The Canada average price is based on the relative weights of 10 cities.

For example, Vancouverites were paying $1.115, in Calgary it was $1.01, Toronto $1.049, Montreal $1.14 and Halifax $1.125.

Gasoline prices are just one commodity to be driven up by the cost of crude oil, which hit a new intraday high of $70.88 US a barrel Tuesday amid international tension over Iran’s nuclear program and worries about supply disruptions in Nigeria.

“We’ve seen prices pushing higher since about the middle of February,” noted MJ Ervin analyst Cathy Hay.

“I would expect we’ll see it push higher this week; that’s a reflection of course of strengthening crude oil prices as well as higher wholesale gas prices.”