For the second time this week, gas prices have broken records in Metro Vancouver – and it's only Wednesday.
Drivers woke up to find some stations selling gas at 158.9 cents a litre Wednesday, breaking Vancouver's previous record high of 157.9 that was set just two days ago.
Analysts blame a number of factors for the continuing price creep, including the rising cost of crude and the declining loonie.
"Oil prices are moving up, the Canadian dollar continues to struggle," said Dan McTeague of GasBuddy.com. "All these things are contributing to higher prices for us in Metro Vancouver."
Those factors are pushing prices up across the country, but no one is feeling as much pain at the pumps as Vancouverites. By comparison, gas was selling for 129.9 cents a litre in Calgary and Toronto Wednesday afternoon.
And McTeague warns things are only going to get worse. He predicts prices will reach as high as $1.62 a litre by late the May long weekend, and could potentially climb even higher in the following months.
"$1.60 will become the new normal much sooner than expected," he told CTV News. "I would not be surprised to see days during the summer at $1.65, regardless of what happens with disruptions in any pipelines."
Gas generally hikes by five to seven cents as demand increases over the summer, according to McTeague.
Anyone worried about current prices might be able to save money by waiting for the weekend, McTeague said, but only by a couple cents a litre.
With files from CTV Vancouver's Sheila Scott
