Ottawa gas prices drop, but not for long

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The price to fill up the gas tank for the start of your long weekend road trip got a little cheaper, but the relief at the pumps will be short-lived.

Gas prices dropped 10 cents a litre at Ottawa stations to 196.6 cents per litre at Ottawa gas stations on Friday, while some stations were selling for $1.95.

However, Canadians for Affordable Energy President Dan McTeague says prices are expected to rise back above $2 a litre over the weekend.

"This is the only day I'd recommend filling up," McTeague told Toronto's CP24. "We're going to see a four cents increase on Saturday."

McTeague said late Friday afternoon that gas prices will drop two cents a litre on Sunday.

Several stations charged 206.9 cents per litre in Ottawa on Saturday, but some stations continued to post prices below $2/L.

Gas prices dropped 13-cents a litre at stations in Ottawa and across southern Ontario since Wednesday, which McTeague said was "very unexpected" as markets dropped over fears of a recession.

The highest price for gasoline in Ottawa was $2.09 a litre on Wednesday.

McTeague says gas prices will top that by next weekend.

“Next week, the Americans begin their unofficial kickoff to the summer driving season. That's going to put a lot of pressure on gas prices for us here in Canada. They are really the ones to determine prices for us, they’re a large market," McTeague said Friday morning.

"I would expect that we're going to be back to $2.10 a litre probably within the next week or so. Unfortunately it's not good news; shortage of supply and demand is pretty strong despite the high price."

According to ottawagasprices.com, the average price of gasoline in Ottawa was $1.25 a litre in May 2021, and $0.87 a litre in May 2020.