Drivers take whack in wallet

www.canada.com Silas Polkinghorne The StarPhoenix Wednesday, February 05, 2003 CREDIT: Gord Waldner   Marlene Kreller pulled in at the Esso at 33rd Street and Avenue P just as prices jumped

Motorists didn't like what they saw as they pulled up to the gas pumps Tuesday.

Prices at Saskatoon service stations had shot up six cents -- from 75.9 cents per litre to 81.9 cents. The price hike took place in the late morning and early afternoon.

The increase made many consumers simply stay away. Business was down at several gas stations.

"It's slowed down quite a bit," said Megan Schnitzler, who works at Central Avenue Co-op Gas Bar.

Catherine Hay of M.J. Ervin and Associates Ltd. in Calgary, a gasoline price watchdog, said most Canadian cities have seen price increases of four to five cents per litre recently.

"Generally speaking, most markets are up."

She said the rising price is a delayed response to increases in United States oil prices.

"I think this is a bit of a catch-up," she said. "I think it was bound to come."

Hay said now that oil production has been restored in Venezuela, after a prolonged strike, prices may soon begin to fall.

She would not speculate on the impact of a possible United States invasion of Iraq on oil prices.