Gas prices to rise again Thursday after big jump overnight

Gas prices have been somewhat steady in recent weeks but GTA drivers woke up on Wednesday to one of the biggest single-day price jumps in recent memory.

The average price rose 10 cents overnight to 162.9 cents/litre at most GTA station and another significant increase is coming on Thursday.

The price of gas will rise six cents at midnight to 168.9 cents/litre, marking the highest price in the region in two months.

Wednesday’s increase one of the biggest single-day jumps the province has seen over the last decade. Gas prices in the GTA peaked at 214.9 cents/litre in June.

Past months gas prices in GTA

Southern Ontario gas prices have been nowhere near as high as they’ve been in Western Canada.

Metro Vancouver set a North American all-time record earlier this week when the price at the pumps reached $2.42/litre. That price is expected to keep climbing with a refinery in Washington state shut down for maintenance.

The rising gas prices follow a big jump in oil prices on Monday, with OPEC getting ready to cut production by two million barrels a day. Refineries are also seeing a scale back in output with the seasonal switch over to wintertime gasoline blends.

The price of oil has increased $10 a barrel over the last week to $86.

Roger McKnight, chief petroleum analyst at EnPro International, told CityNews Tuesday that  prices could continue to surge if OPEC follows through with cutting production.

“As far as I can see, there is a tightness of supply,” he says. “As it stands right now, it’s really depending on what OPEC does tomorrow.”

In the U.S., President Joe Biden recently warned oil and gas companies against increasing prices for consumers as Hurricane Ian lashed Florida’s southwest coast.

Biden said that the hurricane “provides no excuse for price increases at the pump,” and if it happens, he will ask federal officials to determine “whether price gauging is going on.”

Gasoline prices mostly reflect trends in global oil prices, and crude — both the U.S. benchmark and the international Brent — has been slumping since mid-June on growing fears of a global recession that would reduce demand for energy.

With files from CityNews Senior Business Editor Mike Eppel