Drivers in Regina are shelling out more for gas after the price at the pump jumped nine cents a litre at many stations in the city.
The cost of regular unleaded rose from 92.9 cents a litre to 101.9 overnight Monday, according to consumer website GasBuddy.com.
Gas retailers are routinely accused of driving up their prices ahead of the May long weekend in a bid to boost profits.
But Dan McTeague, a senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, says retailers are raising their margins in response to wholesale price increases over the past several weeks.
“At 92.9, there was zero margin for the retailer,” McTeague told CTV News in a phone interview Tuesday.
“Most can’t hang on without a retail margin, so they added the other nine cents which brought us to 101.9 overnight.”
That’s still a lot cheaper than a year ago, when gas prices in Regina averaged 132.2 cents a litre.
Gas prices in the city dipped below a dollar late last year and hit an average low of around 77 cents a litre in January.
“You’re still 27 cents, on average, less expensive than you were last year,” McTeague said.
“That’s real cause for celebration because we’ve seen these kind of savings with those kind of averages now at least since November.”
McTeague predicts gas prices in the city could fall back below the dollar-a-litre mark within the next several days.
