Pump prices at 7-month high

A decrease in refinery productionhas driven up gasolineprices to a seven-month high, according to an analyst.

The average price of a litre of regular gas across the country is now $1.03, said a report Tuesday from MJ Ervin & Associates, a Calgary-based consulting firm that surveyed pump prices.

The new average represents an increase of 1.4 cents over the week before and matches the highest average recorded by MJ Ervin in the Aug. 22, 2006 survey.

'It's pretty much what one might expect for this time of year.' Michael Ervin, MJ Ervin& Associates

Across the U.S. and Canada, supplies remain tight because of a drop in refinery production, MJ Ervin said.

Analyst Michael Ervin said the high gasoline prices are in part related to the rising costs of crude oil. He also noted refiners typically bump up their margins in the early spring, gearing up for the summer driving months.

"It's pretty much what one might expect for this time of year," Ervin said. "Refiner margins tend to widen going into the spring and summer as a result of initially low North American gasoline production as refiners do some maintenance and then later as demand for gasoline itself it increases significantly."

Stations in Eastern Canada charged the highest prices, according to the survey, with Labrador City motorists paying $1.211 a litre. Gander drivers were charged $1.157 per litre, while Corner Brook drivers paid $1.142.

Meanwhile, Alberta drivers paid the lowest prices, with Calgary stations charging an average of 92.3 cents. Consumers in Edmonton paid 92.6 cents per litre while Lethbridge drivers were charged 92.8 cents.