Overnight increase pushes N.S. gas prices to summertime high
Posted Mar 23, 2012 05:03:33 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Gas prices in metro are rapidly approaching the $1.40 mark, and with just months left until the summer driving season, one industry watcher is predicting record highs this year.
Regulated prices climbed by two cents a litre when the Utility and Review Board reset the price at midnight, moving the price of regular self-serve to $1.393 a litre in metro.
Diesel prices haven’t changed since Feb. 24, and remained at $1.365 for another week.
George Murphy of Consumers for Fair Gas Prices says he was expecting another increase.
“Crude oil dropped down by a couple of dollars again, back to where we started out at the start of the week,” Murphy tells News 95.7. “But refined commodities actually stayed up. Over those seven days it did amount, basically, to an increase.”
With the latest increase, it will cost nearly as much to drive from Halifax to Toronto and back as it does to fly.
According to GasBuddy.com it would cost the average person, driving an average family vehicle approximately $400 to make the trip – and Porter Airlines and Westjet are currently selling midweek return flights for about the same.
With this in mind, some residents are considering changing their summer vacation plans.
“I’ll probably still go camping but I don’t think I’ll be travelling as far this summer,” said one man out for a smoke at Young and Robie.
Murphy says consumers should expect to pay even more for gas as the summer driving season ramps up.
“This is the time, right around now and in April, and pretty much right up until the first week of May that we start to see that run up in gasoline prices,” said Murphy.
The highest gas price on record since the implementation of regulation was $1.446, set in July 2008.
Local motorists say they expect gas prices will eclipse that mark this year.
“It will be more than that. I’m sure of it,” said one man sitting in his car at Young and Robie.
“They’re predicting it’s supposed to go higher than that. I hope it doesn’t,” said another driver. “I miss the days when it was 35 cents a litre, 40 cents a litre.”
