Sticker shock at the pump, gas prices jump to $1.50 per litre in Montreal

Ahead of the Thanksgiving long weekend, Montrealers set to hit the road better be ready to feel a pinch at the pump as gas prices hit record highs.

Drivers looking to fill up may notice prices hovering around $1.48 per litre — which is now the average across the city, according to Gasbuddy.

A number of gas stations on the Island of Montreal have been seen pricing petrol as high as $1.50 per litre.

Data from Natural Resources Canada, which tracks fuel prices across the country, shows the average weighted national retail price for regular gasoline in Canada hit $1.45 per litre this week. That’s up more than 40 cents year-over-year and the highest weekly average price on record, according to fuel price consultancy firm Kalibrate, which has data all the way back to 2007.

Montrealers should consider themselves lucky, though. In Vancouver, gasoline prices were higher this summer than they are now, hitting an eye-watering $1.73 per litre on Canada Day.

1:30 What’s fueling the spike in gas prices across Canada?

Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, said the majority of the gains are being driven by the price of crude oil, which is at a seven-year high due to increased demand globally as pandemic restrictions ease and economic activity picks up.

“What this really means is we’re in for a long period of an energy super bubble — something we haven’t seen since 2008 – where price continues to rise no matter what the economic circumstances are,” McTeague said.

Gasoline prices usually settle back down by winter, but this year there are many unknowns related to the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the outcome of a dispute between Canada and the U.S. over Michigan’s attempts to turn off the taps to Enbridge Inc.’s Line 5 pipeline.

The pipeline provides nearly half of the fuel supply to Ontario and Quebec, but Michigan has attempted to shut it down citing the perceived risk of a spill.

McTeague forecasts the situation will only get worse for motorists.

As global players move away and divest from fossil fuels, oil production will be reduced causing a dramatic spike in demand and in turn, in the price of oil.

“It means if you don’t like $1.50 a litre your not going to like $1.60 a litre which is what we’re going to achieve one way or another well before Christmas,” McTeague said.

–With files from The Canadian Press