Turmoil in Iraq will drive gas prices to record highs over the weekend, predicts “Gas Guru” Dan McTeague.
On his website Tomorrow’s Gas Prices Today, the former Member of Parliament warns that the cost per litre will jump two cents overnight, making gasoline the priciest it’s been since September 2008.
“Volatility around the world is finding a place right here in Toronto with prices now hitting levels we’ve never seen,” McTeague told CTV Toronto, saying prices could climb to nearly $1.43 per litre.
“I don’t really want to say that’s the high water mark, no one really knows,” he said. “But there’s a lot of speculative bets going on right now that prices are going to remain very high, at least through the foreseeable future.”
Roger McKnight, a senior petroleum analyst at En-Pro International, agrees with McTeague’s assessment. He told The Canadian Press that the spike in price is unrelated to North American supply and demand.
McKnight lays the blame on the financial sector being nervous about tensions in the Middle East.
Insurgents have seized several cities in Iraq, including the country’s second-most populous, Mosul. Hundreds have been killed during the siege led by the group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, sending the country’s oil supply into a state of uncertainty.
Iraq is the second-highest exporter of crude oil in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC controls 81 per cent of the world’s oil reserves, according to their estimates.
Back in Canada, McTeague said high costs at the pumps will hopefully reduce demand for gasoline, easing prices somewhat.
“I think at some point the prices may climb down, but not a lot,” he said, guessing at most they might dip down around $1.35 per litre over the next few weeks.
“It’s anyone’s guess afterwards. And it really matters what happens in places like Iraq.”
With files from the Canadian Press
