Shock sticker at the pump, gasoline prices rise to $ 1.50 per liter in Montreal – Montreal | The Canadian News

Ahead of the long Thanksgiving weekend, Montréal’s prepared to hit the road and be prepared to feel a pinch at the pump when gas prices hit record highs.

Drivers looking to refuel may find prices hovering around $ 1.48 per liter, which is now the citywide average, according to Gasbuddy.

Several gas stations on the island of Montreal have set gasoline prices of up to $ 1.50 per liter.

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

However, the people of Montréal should consider themselves lucky. In Vancouver, gasoline prices were higher this summer than they are now, hitting $ 1.73 per liter on Canada Day.

1:30What is driving the rebound in gasoline prices in Canada?

Dan McTeague, president of Canadian for Affordable Energy, said most 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 restrictions Pandemics decline and economic activity recovers.

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

Gasoline prices generally fall again in 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 US over Michigan’s attempts to close the taps on the Enbridge Inc. Line 5 Pipeline.

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

McTeague predicts the situation will only get worse for motorists.

As global players move away and ditch fossil fuels, oil production will decline, causing a dramatic increase in demand and, in turn, the price of oil.

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

–With files from The Canadian Press