Up 12.9 cents
Sep 12, 2008 - 05:20 AM
Precious Yutangco, Torstar news services
A massive overnight hike in prices at the gas pump will leave motorists shocked.
The jump – 12.9 cents a litre through Durham Region and the GTA -- is one of the highest single-step price hikes in recent memory, blamed by oil refiners on supply uncertainties posed by Hurricane Ike as it rampages through the Gulf of Mexico.
"Canadians are going to get a sock in the chin," Pickering-Scarborough East Liberal MP Dan McTeague said.
Mr. McTeague said he expects an average price of around $1.36.6 in the GTA.
Many drivers weren't waiting for prices to climb as they filled up before midnight.
Whitby resident Don Dutton said the situation was "just crazy" east of Toronto.
"It was probably eight to 10 minutes getting into the pump," he said. "Getting in and out, people were sort of pushing and jockeying."
At one of the major intersections in Durham Region Thursday night -- Brock Street and Taunton Road in Whitby -- drivers were lined up to the road at two gas stations shortly after 9 p.m. trying to beat the predicted price hike and fill up at 123.7 a litre.
The jump in price is being blamed on Hurricane Ike, which is expected to make landfall somewhere along the U.S. Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane later this evening or early tomorrow morning.
Several refineries and gas producers in Mexico and Texas shut down as a precaution yesterday.
On July 11, Mr. McTeague said crude jumped to $147 a barrel, bringing the average price up to $1.36.4 per litre in the GTA.
But in this case, he said, there's no correlation between the price of crude and the jump in prices.
On Wednesday, OPEC reported that the price per barrel dropped to $96.80 (U.S.), he said, yet motorists were still paying more yesterday.
After the devastation Katrina left behind in August 2005, prices went up about 16 cents per litre, he said.
But that increase came after Katrina hit, while this hike came in anticipation of Ike, "without evidence of any damage."
But if Ike leaves behind a trail of chaos, Mr. McTeague said, worse may be in store.
"They've already been ramping up the price," he said. "If this hurricane does the devastation anywhere similar to Katrina as far as the refineries and gas production is concerned, it'll be a lot worse."
Mr. McTeague attributed the hike to market manipulation, not future woes. "It has nothing to do with weather," he said.
Representatives from the major oil companies were not available for comment last night.
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