Calgary gas prices surge above national average in a rare occurrence

Gas prices are on the rise againin Calgary and have now spiked above the national average,something that's only happened a handful of times in the past decade.

Average retail prices reached $1.12per litre in the city on Tuesday, well above the Canada-wide average of $1.05, according to data from GasBuddy.com.

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Slowdownsor outright shutdownsat a dozen major refineries in the American Midwest that feed the Canadian Prairies with gasolineare largely to blame for the sudden surge in pump prices in Calgary,according to seniorGasBuddy.com analystDanMcTeague.

Combined with a "huge bulge" in demand for gasoline in the United States and a weak Canadian dollar, he added it creates a "perfect storm" for price volatilityeven in oilrich but refinery-poorAlberta.

"Crude is an important product but so is the ability to produce refined product, and if we don't have enough to meet our own domestic needs, you can expect that a problem south of the border becomes a much bigger problem for Canadians," McTeague said.

Gas prices in other parts of the country have been less affected because they aren't supplied by the same group of Midwestrefineries that have seen a series of planned and unplanned shutdowns for maintenance.

Pump prices in Toronto were 12 cents lower than in Calgary on Tuesday, for example,despite significantly higher taxes on gasoline in Ontario's biggest city, McTeague noted.

"It just goes to show you how significant refinery disruptions in the U.S. are," he said.

McTeague expects gas prices in Calgaryto continue to be affected by the slowdown in Midwest refinery capacity, as much of the maintenance work isn't expectedto wrap upuntil mid-October or early November.