The average retail price for gas in Saskatoon has risen just over 10 cents a litre in the past week, according to GasBuddy.com, with the average cost at $1.46.68 cents a litre on Sunday. That’s a bit above the national average, which increased by 3.9 cents a litre to $1.45.77 cents a litre. Year over year, gas prices in Saskatoon were 19.2 cents higher on January 1st, than they were last year on New Years Day. Nationally, the price for gas is up 6.1 cents. The cost for gas in Regina is up 8.8 cents a litre in the past week, averaging at $1.45.55 cents a litre.

GasBuddy spokesperson Patrick De Haan says, “Canada’s average price of gasoline rose sharply last week, as extremely cold weather led to many refinery issues, shutting down over a million barrels of refining capacity, pushing wholesale prices up. ” As well, China’s nearly three year COVID-zero policies appear to be coming to an end, which De Haan believes gave markets inspiration that global oil demand will start to recover. He expects though that the price increase will be temporary, as most refiners get back online after the cold weather-related issues, but stresses that should oil continue to rally, more increases could be on the way.”