Gas prices could hit $1.30 by Saturday

Gasoline prices in Peterborough shot up another eight cents or so on Thursday as the havoc from Hurricane Harvey on the Gulf of Mexico coast continues.

As of Thursday night, most stations in Peterborough were at 116.9 with a few others in the range between 116.3 and 117.2, according to Gas Buddy Ontario.

There were two exceptions: the Costco station on The Parkway was at 105.3 for members and the Global station on Chemong Rd. was at 107.9 for now.

The three gas stations at Curve Lake First Nation continued to have some of the lowest prices in Ontario at 98.9 to 101.9.

Gas Buddy petroleum analyst Dan McTeague warned Thursday that prices could go up another five cents on Friday and eight cents on Saturday, just as people are hitting the road for the Labour Day long weekend.

That would bring Peterborough prices up to around 130 cents a litre by Saturday, reaching levels not seen since 2014.

“And a potential increase for Sunday,” McTeague added.

McTeague said the United States has shut down five million barrels of gasoline production, due to Harvey and its flooding, which is more than twice Canada’s refinery output.

“It’s crisis 101 -- 31 per cent of all U.S. gas production is now idle,” he said.

The closure of the Colonial Pipeline on Thursday, on top of major refineries including the largest, Motiva in Port Arthur, has led to exploding gas prices, McTeague said.

Although Canadian refineries aren’t directly impacted by the storm, they don’t have enough capacity to meet all the needs, he said.

Also, if Canada’s gas prices stay low, the Americans can come scoop up the supply, driving up the prices.

“And they will -- there’s a shortage coming out of the United States,” McTeague said.