Get ready for more pain at the pumps.

A former Liberal MP who monitors fuel prices across Canada told CP24 that the price of gas will likely hit $1.41 per litre on Wednesday.

Dan McTeague said the average price per litre is likely to jump again, just a day after GTA gas stations began charging a record 139.6 cents overnight, bringing more worries that it will soar even higher this summer.

McTeague, who operates the website Tomorrow's Gas Price Today, said consumers are at the mercy of the refiners, whose decisions influence fuel prices.

"If this morning is any indication it looks like prices are again moving north," he told CP24. "It's hard to pin down what the increase will be, but it is not just a possibility. It is a probability"

(Find the GTA's cheapest gas prices here)

Station runs out of fuel

Motorists looking for cheap gas after the 6.5-cent hike have already drained a Toronto station that was offering one of the city's best deals.

The 24-hour OLCO station on Kipling Avenue, just north of the Queensway, was charging 130.9 cents per litre – 10 cents less than most stations – until it ran out of fuel.

Signs reading "No gas – sorry" have been posted at the station's pumps to turn bargain-seeking motorists away.

Some stations are charging 156.9 cents for a litre of premium fuel.

The 6.5-cent hike reflected a $5.30 increase in the price of crude oil Monday, although the price was down $1.40 in early trading Tuesday morning.

The last time gas was this expensive in Toronto was in 2008, when motorists were paying about 138 cents for a litre of regular gasoline.

Toronto gas stations were charging an average of 98.6 cents a year ago Tuesday, according to McTeague's website.

Prices are up across most of Ontario and in other parts of Canada.

Motorists are paying an average of 132.9 in Ottawa, 136.8 in Kingston, 137.3 in Barrie, Kitchener-Waterloo and Peterborough, and 139.6 in Guelph, Hamilton and London, according to figures provided by Tomorrow's Gas Price Today.

Prices in southern Ontario now rival those in the northern half of the province. Gas stations are charging 139.9 cents in Thunder Bay, where no price increase was recorded overnight.

Despite the record high, it could be worse.

People in Montreal are paying 144.9 cents per litre after a five-cent hike, while gas stations in Vancouver are charging 144.1 cents.

There was no change in Calgary, where the average price at the pumps is 121.9.

'Gasoline season'

John Voros, senior petroleum analyst at En-Pro International in Oshawa, said the Canadian market is driven by what is happening in the United States, where gasoline inventories are down because of problems at refineries.

"This has created some concern about supply of gasoline in the marketplace and the Canadian industry is following that directly and that is what they're using to help support higher gasoline prices," Voros said.

"We're (also) getting into the beginning of gasoline season, which normally starts the May long weekend" when demand goes up, Voros said.

As for regional differences, Voros said gasoline prices in Eastern Canada are driven by the events in the New York harbour area, while in Western Canada things are "more dictated by what's happening in the Midwest marketplace, in Chicago."

People buying smaller vehicles: study

High gas prices are driving Canadians and Americans to buy smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, according a Scotiabank global auto report released Tuesday.

The trend began to emerge when oil prices surpassed US$100 per barrel in March, according to the study.

Sales of compact cars and small crossover vehicles in Canada jumped 23 per cent in April compared with the same month a year ago, the report stated.

In the U.S., sales of the same vehicles soared 40 per cent in March and April and now account for one-quarter of overall sales.

With a report from CP24's Cam Woolley and files from The Canadian Press