Ottawa motorists will want to fill up the gas tank today, before a significant jump in prices on Wednesday. Canadians for Affordable Energy president Dan McTeague says prices are expected to jump eight cents a litre at stations in Ottawa and across Ontario tomorrow. The average price of gasoline will be around 178.9 cents a litre in Ottawa, according to McTeague. “It looks like prices are now heading back up more rapidly than I think most are comfortable with,” McTeague told Toronto’s CP24. McTeague says prices could increase another 2-3 cents a litre on Thursday. He says the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has caused a shipping bottleneck in the Strait of Hormuz and drained emergency oil reserves. “It’s going to take a long time for that to be replenished under law. It’s also going to require a little bit more patience from everyone to recognize that it’s not just gasoline, it’s jet fuel, it’s diesel,” McTeague said. Gas prices dropped 13 cents a litre last week after word of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared to hold. With files from CP24’s Joanna Lavoie
