Gas Prices Jumps up to 13 Cents per Litre in Some Markets

Motorists in many cities in Canada received a sharp surprise early Friday when they discovered the price of gasoline had risen by as much as 13 cents per litre.

Liberal MP Dan McTeague, a critic of the oil industry, said he cannot recall a time when gasoline prices rose by so much in such a short period of time.

McTeague said "there is no justification" for Friday's increase. He said the four main Canadian oil companies are taking advantage of motorists.

As Wednesday's OPEC meeting ended with cartel members decreeing that they will strictly adhere to production quotas, Saudi Arabia, the oil cartel's leading producer, said privately that it did not feel bound to the plan. The country aims to keep production at a level at which the price of oil drops to less than $100 a barrel.

Hurricane Ike, bearing down Friday on the Texas coast, is pressuring US refining capacity at a time when gasoline stockpiles are low, signaling higher prices at the pump for American consumers.

Although crude oil production from the offshore rigs in the Gulf of Mexico has been almost shut down, after the evacuation of workers, Ike's forecast path appears likely to spare them.

"The threat of the storm to the oil industry is going to be more to the refineries than to the offshore rigs," said Phil Flynn, an oil sector analyst at Alaron Trading.