The price of gas is spiking in Montreal as the long weekend approaches.
The price at the pump rose Thursday night in Montreal for a second time in three days, reaching an average of nearly $1.35 per litre of regular fuel by Friday morning.
On Monday, the average price on the island was $1.16. By Tuesday, it jumped to nearly $ 1.27.
Lower prices for regular on the outskirts of the city remained at $ 1.16 on Thursday night. According to EssenceQuebec.com, other parts of Quebec are also seeing much lower prices, particularly in the Montérégie, in Lanaudière and the Laurentians, in the Outaouais and east of Quebec . They were generally less than $1.05 in these areas.
In Quebec City, however, drivers are paying almost $ 1.24 per litre.
Mathieu Bedard, an economist with the Montreal Economic Institute, said the devestation Hurricane Harvey has wrought in Texas is partly responsible for the higher prices and noted if Canada had more energy independence, it might not be the case.
"What's happening is Canada is really showing the importance of having a developed energy infrastructure with things such as the pipeline going through, bringing oil from the west to the east," he said. "In the long run, this is the kind of thing that can really help lower gas prices."
Analyst Dan McTeague of the GasBuddy site said he expected gas prices to escalate in Canada this week as the major floods caused by Hurricane Harvey forced several Texas refineries to shut down their operations.
McTeague said service stations in Montreal could take advantage of higher wholesale prices to raise prices and increase profit margins.
On Friday morning, GasBuddy priced gas below $ 1.10 a litre in Ottawa, less than $1.08 in Toronto and less than $ 0.97 in Calgary.
On Thursday in New York, the price of a barrel of crude oil for delivery in October rose US $1.27 at closing, to US $47.23.
