Gas prices in Metro Vancouver hit $1.31 per litre this week, and experts say they could coninue to climb -- barring a sudden wave of peace in the Middle East.
Many Vancouver motorists have been heading to the Fraser Valley or even crossing the border into Washington State in recent weeks just to get a deal at the pumps.
That's because cities like Abbotsford aren't subject to Vancouver's 15-cent Transit Tax, and prices in Washington State are often less than $1 per litre.
Keith Schaefer, editor and publisher of the Oil and Gas Investments Bulletin, blames uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East for the spike, and says prices could climb higher if unrest spreads.
"It's really Saudi Arabia that everyone is looking towards," Schaefer said. "Saudi Arabia is really the only country in the world that has enough oil to keep prices low."
"Everyone else in the whole world is producing basically as much as they can right now."
Schaefer says the U.S. offers lower prices because it has a bigger refinery capacity and more competition, whereas Canada has an "oligopoly of oil companies."
Vancouver's Transit Tax pushes the city's total fuel taxes to 39.85 cents per litre, the highest in Canada. At the other end of the spectrum, drivers in the Yukon pay only 22.5 cents per litre in tax.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Bhinder Sajan
