TORONTO – Gas prices are ticking upwards across much of Canada on Wednesday, anywhere from 5 to 10 cents per litre depending on where you’re located across the country, according to gas price analysts.
“The world is continuously creeping towards a shortage in supply… Not just in oil but we’re now seeing it in gasoline and diesel,” says Canadians for Affordable Energy president Dan McTeague.
That’s leading to a painful process for those pulling up to the pumps. Seven in 10 surveyed Ontarian drivers aged 35 to 54 told the CAA prices are changing their day-to-day activities.
At a Toronto gas station, where prices are expected to hit 172.9 cents per litre Wednesday, drivers shared their frustration with CTV News.
“Every time I hear the news that gas is going up it’s a scary thing, I’m just trying to roll with it and survive,” said Kim Brown.
As hostilities return between Iran and the United States, and uncertainty rises in the Strait of Hormuz, so does the cost of living for everyday Canadians.
A couple of pumps over, Rid Choclader says that the uncertainty with the war is “frustrating” and a bit “scary.”
“I’ve got a kid I have to feed as well, I’m trying to keep up with all the price increases,” he says.
The frustration could only increase in the days ahead, according to McTeague.
“We have a serious, serious energy crisis and the prices are going to start to reflect that. I think its going to get even worse for the last week of July and the first week of August,” he told CTV News.
The highest average price nationally on Wednesday, is expected to be in Vancouver at 198.9 per litre. One of the cheapest averages will be in Edmonton at 165.9 per litre.
The price of brent crude topped $87 dollars a barrel at one point on Tuesday. A year ago, to the day brent crude was trading at $66.84 per barrel.
Analysts believe the price could climb even higher, amid concerns that vital Saudi’s shipping ports are now being targeted by Iranian backed Houthis.
“Crude oil prices have not factored in a threat to Yanbu (port) in the Red Sea, where Saudi Arabia has been able redirect so much of its oil – around five million barrels,” says the president of the Rapidan Energy Group, Bob McNally.
Stateside, inflation in the U.S. cooled last month in part because of a dip in gas prices, though the renewed strikes on key assets by both the U.S. and Iran in the Gulf has been a driving factor behind the rise in oil prices rising for a second consecutive day this week.
As the fighting returns in the Middle East, the road ahead for budget-conscious Canadian drivers a world away remains both turbulent and unpredictable.
