WATCH ABOVE: Fuel prices have spiked across Alberta in a very short period of time. Drivers are now shelling out around 15 cents more per litre, and it may not end there. Fletcher Kent explains.
EDMONTON – The price of gas is up in Edmonton and may climb even higher.
At most Edmonton stations Thursday it had jumped to $1.20 per litre from $1.03 a day earlier.
The last time gas sold for a $1.20 in Edmonton, oil was at $80 per barrel. On Thursday, oil closed at $43 per barrel.
“It’s frustrating,” said Levon Joslin, who came with his family to fill up everything they could – the car, truck, jerry cans – at one of the last stations that hand’t yet hike prices.
“It seems crazy since the price per barrel keeps going down but the gas price keeps going up,” added Guy Joslin.
The latest increase has nothing to do with the price of oil, industry experts say. It’s because a major BP refinery shut down in Indiana last weekend.
“We don’t know the extent of the damage, how long it will take, what parts will be affected, but what is clear is that 240,000 barrels of Canadian heavy oil will no longer be needed. More importantly that works out to about 40 million litres (of gas) out of the market,” explained Dan McTeague, Petroleum Analyst, GasBuddy.com.
Other American and Canadian refineries have recently had problems as well, further decreasing supply. And with Americans driving more, demand is up. Higher gas prices are the result, McTeague said.
The Indiana refinery shutdown boosted wholesale prices by 26 cents per litre, he added, but Alberta drivers have so far only seen 13- to 15-cent-per-litre increases. So, he predicts another his on they way.
If American demand grows, high fuel prices could be around for a long time, regardless of the price of oil, he warned.