Drivers will want to fill up their car’s tank before Tuesday evening, gas price analysts warn.
The price of gasoline is expected to rise six cents/litre tomorrow, according to Dan McTeague, an analyst from GasBuddy.com.
The price is poised to jump from 115.9 cents/litre to just over 121.9 cents/litre.
“This is going to be a far more expensive year,” he said.
Rise in gas prices hit by seasonal factors and carbon pricing changes
With the price of crude-oil consistently on the rise toward $56 a barrel over the past five days, the gas price watchdog anticipates Torontonians will see the highest gas price increase since October 2014. That summer, the average retail price at the pumps topped 141 cents/litre.
“This would only add to the price of gasoline,” McTeague explained.
He also attributes this hike to seasonal factors, alongside the stress of new carbon pricing which took effect in Ontario and Alberta on New Year’s Day.
“It’s attributable to the move over, the shift from winter-blended gasoline to summer-blend gasoline,” he said. “It costs more for refineries to produce and put additives in the gasoline to allow it to become less volatile under heat as temperatures that are warming up, so is the price of fuel.”
Ontario’s cap-and-trade program is expected to push gasoline prices up by 4.3 cents/litre.
McTeague anticipates drivers will see a benchmark of 121.9 cents/litre for the next week. He says this price plateau will begin to trickle off by the beginning of May.
'I can't afford it'
But for some Toronto drivers, that isn’t soon enough.
“It’s just far too expensive,” one driver told CP24 on Monday. "It’s a huge load off of me. I can’t afford it.”
While another woman said, "I feel like it sucks for people who pay premium gas prices."
Businesses will also be affected by inflated prices.
"It's not good for businesses especially the taxi industry," a driver told CP24 outside an Esso gas station at King Street and Strachan Avenue.
The price of gas has climbed 12 cents/litre in the last two weeks.
