GTHA gas prices could hit $2 a litre and ‘turbocharge’ food prices, analyst warns

Drivers endure more pain at the pumps as gas prices rise to nearly $1.74 a litre in parts of the GTA.

Gas prices inched past the $1.72 cents per litre mark at most stations across the Greater Toronto Area overnight, with the cost at the pumps expected to rise again over the next two days.

Prices, however, could surge even higher heading into the summer months, with one analyst saying the cost of gas could hit the $2 per litre mark and “turbocharge” grocery bills as food prices soar.

Gas analyst Dan McTeague tells CP24 prices will likely jump about 10 cents a litre once summer-grade blends of gasoline hit the pumps, which he anticipates will happen sometime mid-April.

“If it goes to $1.83 (per litre) by then, it’ll be $1.93. There’s a very strong possibility here that the longer the conflict goes, along with the added burden of these summer spec gas blends being introduced, that we could see $2 a litre—something we haven’t seen in four or five years here in the GTA,” McTeague said in an interview.

A few weeks ago, the United States and Israel attacked Iran, prompting retaliatory strikes from Tehran against Israel, American bases in the region, and Gulf Arab countries’ energy infrastructure. Most recently, Iran escalated its strikes and hit gas facilities in Qatar after Israel launched an attack against South Pars.

“Qatar is the largest single supplier of LNG (liquefied natural gas) to the world,” McTeague said, noting the implications this will likely have on energy costs.

“...These prices will increase food prices, that’s inevitable beacuse of the cost of diesel.”

The price of oil has surged when the Strait of Hormuz, the channel where one-fifth of the world’s oil travels through, effectively closed. The cost of Brent crude, considered the international benchmark for oil, has now gone up by nearly 50 per cent since the start of the war.

McTeague said he expects the average price of a regular litre of fuel in the GTA to rise by another penny to $171.9 per litre on Friday with the possibility of a further four cent increase on Saturday.

That said, McTeague said the price of fuel will fall by a penny per litre on Thursday night, costing $170.9 per litre across most stations.

If the conflict comes to an end, McTeague says, the cost of oil would swiftly plummet, providing near-immediate relief at the pumps.

With files from The Associated Press