Gas prices heading for big jump at midnight to highest price since August

Gas prices have been somewhat steady in recent weeks but drivers would be well-advised to fill up with one of the biggest price jumps in recent memory coming on Wednesday, Oct. 5.

The price is expected to rise 10 cents at midnight to an average price of $1.629 cents a litre at most Ottawa stations, according to chief petroleum analyst Roger McKnight at En-Pro International.

The increase is one of the biggest single-day jumps the province has seen over the last decade and the new average price will be the highest it's been since August. 

Gas prices hit a record $2.159 a litre in Ottawa in June. 

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 follows a big jump in oil prices on Monday with OPEC getting ready to cut production. Refineries are also seeing a scale back in output with the seasonal switch over to wintertime gasoline blends.

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