A petroleum analyst suggests drivers will see more pain at the pumps over the weekend.
"I really want to be emphatic here to all drivers in Vancouver that today is the day to gas up," GasBuddy.com's Dan McTeague told CTV News Friday.
He blames disruption to the Olympic pipeline in Washington state for what he predicts will be as much as a six-cents-per-litre increase overnight in Metro Vancouver.
"If you don't like $1.319, you may not be very happy paying by Sunday morning, for instance, as much as $1.46 or $1.47."
McTeague said he thinks the increase likely won't be as steep as six cents at most stations, but added a hike of eight to 10 cents is possible by Sunday.
"It will be temporary, but if you need gasoline now, now is the time to fill up. Do not wait until tomorrow and certainly not until Sunday," he said.
He expects prices to stay up until Wednesday or Thursday.
The sudden spike, he says, is due to an issue found during scheduled maintenance on the Olympic pipeline, which supplies a roughly 650-kilometre system of arteries and offshoots. Because of its size, even a short shutdown is projected to impact the price of a gallon, he said.
And, he said, repairs expected to take 12 hours ended up taking longer than planned, so part of the pipeline was shut down for more time than crews expected.
While the line is back up and running, there was a shortage when it was turned off that could have lingering effects from California to B.C.
McTeague added that the soggy weather could potentially cause flooding at a refinery in Burnaby, but that so far, no issues have been reported.
He expects prices to be back down to around $1.31 by Christmas, but advises anyone who needs gas next week to "get to the gas station now. Take what you need. Because you're going to see a pretty serious jump tomorrow."
With files from CTV Vancouver's Nafeesa Karim
