Gas prices in Alberta climbing ahead of Thanksgiving long weekend

Gas prices way up in Calgary With the resumption of Alberta's gas tax and a production cut by OPEC, there are lots of reasons why Calgary drivers are seeing higher prices.

The price at the pump continues to trend upward in Calgary with the average price of fuel sitting at 162.6 cents a litre Wednesday morning, though some stations in the city are posting fuel closer to 172.9 cents a litre.

The cost of fuel has been on the rise in both Calgary and Edmonton since the last week of September with market analysts attributing the jump, in part, to a struggling Canadian dollar.

The jump in prices was exacerbated for consumers by the resumption of 4.5 cents per litre of the provincial fuel tax on Oct 1.

A meeting between OPEC+ oil-producing countries on Wednesday could drive prices at the pump even higher, as the alliance is considering cutting a million barrels of crude a day or more which would be the largest quota cut since 2020.

"When OPEC cuts oil a million to two million barrels a day than of course the world will wind up with three or four million barrels short so that means basically gas prices have nowhere to go but up," said market analyst Dan McTeague.

The cut in oil production is to boost oil prices that have fallen from summer highs of over US$100 to around US$80 a barrel for crude.

The higher prices would also help OPEC+ member Russia which will likely have to lower its prices to find new customers once a European ban goes into effect.

News of the possible cut in production is already impacting the price of oil in Canada, with WTI crude trading up more than US$87 a barrel Wednesday morning.

With files from The Canadian Press, CTV News and BNN