CALGARY – The average price of gasoline across Canada has risen above $1 per litre for the first time in seven months.
The last time prices surpassed that threshold was the week of October 21, according to data compiled by Calgary consultant firm MJ Ervin & Associates.
Jason Toews of the price-tracking website Gasbuddy.com says the average pump price across Canada hit $1 over the weekend.
He says the nice spring weather is prompting Canadians to drive more, which bumps up demand for gasoline.
Toews is expecting national average gas prices to bounce around the $1.10 to $1.15 per litre range this summer.
That’s nowhere near the eye-popping $1.40 per litre Canadian drivers faced last summer, when the price of crude oil was more than double its current level.
On Monday, oil prices fell to around US$61 a barrel on world markets as investors eyed an OPEC meeting this week and weighed evidence of a global economic recovery.
OPEC leaders this year have said they want the price of crude at $70 a barrel, and most analysts say the recent jump to above $61 from below $35 in March will keep the group from any further production cuts to prop up the price.
Oil has rallied on investor optimism that the worst of the global economic downturn is over and demand for crude may start to pick up.
