Northern gas prices on the rise

Gas prices are on the rise across the country, andNorthern residents may be hit harder than most.

Prices jumped about20 cents per litrein Yellowknife this week. They're up by at least 10 cents across most of Canada.

• It's not just you: Gas prices are much higher than they should be

"I was filling up, and I was like: 'wow, $1.33,'" said Peter Wah-shee,in Yellowknife,who says he paid about $1.13 a litre last week.

DanMcTeague, who is a petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com and the founder of Tomorrow's Gas Price Today, says the sudden jump is tied to refineries in the upper Midwestern United States, which have in recent weeks struggled to get product to market.

"Pretty much through out the entire prairies, B.C., interior, and even Ontario... the price of gas has gone up 10,15 cents in one fell swoop," saysMcTeague.

In Whitehorse,Yukon, where highway prices recently rosecloser to $1.30 per litre, downtown retailers were on June 18 still in lock-stepat $1.17for regular gas.At thatprice, independentdealers inWhitehorse say they are losing money at the pumps.

One of the independentswho raised prices briefly this week in anticipation of a hikesays he wasforced to roll back because the major dealers refused to follow his lead. But he says prices will definitely be going up soon.

"The tax, and and other considerations...It's really up to the stations to make a decision as to what they can afford to setthe gas at," saysMcTeague.

He says prices almost always go up at the beginning of summer because of high demand, thentend to drop in mid July.