Last night, gas prices at some stations in Airdrie jumped nine cents to over 118 cents per litre, while others stayed steady at around 109 cents a litre.

Dan McTeague, Senior Petroleum Analyst with GasBuddy.com, said the price hike is due to retailers trying to recoup expenses. By the weekend, prices should drop down below 110 cents a litre.

"That's only because retailers tend to drop their 10, 12 cent retail margins, especially on the weekends."

With that in mind, McTeague has this advice for drivers.

"If you can find gasoline for under $1.10, buy it today. Hedge against this three days of higher prices."

If you can't find those lower prices, McTeague said you should just wait until the weekend.

Looking more long-term, McTeague sees indications that gas prices could trend lower over the next few weeks because of the time of year, and the fact that demand is low and supplies are adequate.

"These prices are extremely high for this time of year, the highest we've seen since at least 2014. We're likely to see a bit of a correction on both the oil and gasoline side."

McTeague points to the Chicago spot market, which sets gas trends for western Canada, where wholesale fuel prices are going to drop. That will correspond with a drop in retail prices at the pump. McTeague said the Province's carbon tax makes it unlikely that prices will drop below a dollar a litre, but they will trend down more pleasantly.

 

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