GTA gas prices to drop again after big jump on Friday

GTA drivers will want to hold out on filling up their tanks on Friday after a big jump in gas prices will be followed by another significant decrease at midnight.

Roger McKnight, Chief Petroleum Analyst at En-Pro International, tells CityNews the price of gas at most GTA stations will drop six cents on Saturday, after the price jumped eight cents on Friday.

Drivers can expect to pay $1.689/litre at the pump once the clock strikes midnight, down from $1.749/litre.

Gas prices reached a five-month low last week, falling under $1.60/litre for the first time since February. Prices in the GTA peaked at a record $2.149/litre in June.

GTA gas prices through August

Speaking to Bloomberg last week, McKnight warned the relatively lower gas prices of the last week wouldn’t last long, saying the drop in price was due to a slowed demand and could be a sign of trouble for the economy in the months ahead.

“Why has demand fallen off? The inflation situation has made things more expensive for consumers,” McKnight says. “Then we have the shadow of a recession looming behind us.”

He says the threat of a downturn in the economy has caused many families to hold off on summer vacation plans and trips where they would normally be driving longer distances.

“Thing are starting to close in a bit, it’s not a very good omen has we head into the fall.”

In the U.S., gasoline prices just dipped to just under the $4 a gallon mark for the first time in more than five months

Oil prices began rising in mid-2020 as economies recovered from the initial shock of the pandemic. They rose again when the U.S. and allies announced sanctions against Russian oil over Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Recently, however, oil prices have dropped on concern about slowing economic growth around the world. U.S. benchmark crude oil has recently dipped close to $90 a barrel from over $120 a barrel in June.

With files from The Associated Press