London, Ont. gas prices set to rise by five cents Thursday evening

London, Ont., drivers can expect more pain at the pumps later Thursday as gasoline prices are set to come close to previous records.

Although falling five cents overnight to $1.91 per litre by Thursday morning, Londoners should prepare for a U-turn as prices are expected to go back up by five cents Thursday evening, according to the website gaswizard.ca.

That will put the city two cents shy of its all-time high of $1.98 per litre set on Mother’s Day.

According to The Canadian Press, Natural Resources Canada said the average price across the country for regular gasoline hit a record of 197.4 cents per litre Tuesday.

The higher prices come in part because of supply chain disruptions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as the re-opening of the economy leading to a higher demand for gasoline that can only be met by a certain number of refiners.

For the month of May, regular gasoline prices have not gone below $1.85 per litre.

Diesel rose by nine cents overnight to $2.46 per litre, a total rise of 15 cents over the past two days. However, no further increase is anticipated to occur overnight.

Analysts predict that gas prices will be above $2 a litre in London by the May Long Weekend.