Gas prices in P.E.I. break 2008 record after IRAC makes another unscheduled hike

Gas prices are going up for the third time in four days after the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission made another unscheduled fuel price increase.

The price for gasoline went up overnight on Tuesday by 11 cents per litre before taxes, while the price of furnace oil and diesel increased by nine cents.

Including taxes, the price for unleaded, regular self-serve gasoline is between $1.86 to $1.87 cents a litre, putting them above the inflation adjusted record of $1.39 reached in July 2008, which would be equivalent to around $1.81 today.

Diesel is now between $2.09 and $2.10 cents a litre, while the max price for heating oil is $1.659.

All together, Islanders are paying almost 29 cents more for gas and about 32 more for heating oil than they would have last Tuesday.

The hikes are taking a toll on many Islanders who are already struggling with rising inflation.

Akins Olepamigi, a cab driver in Charlottetown, was at the pumps Monday night. He said the costs for gas are just too high.

"Everything [has] gone up," he said. "Not only gas. Even grocery, everything, has gone up. So it's affecting our business."

IRAC said the hikes are in line with those seen in other Atlantic provinces, as oil prices continue to climb.

Crude prices have gone up while Russia's invasion of Ukraine drags on, and economic sanctions on the oil-rich country continue to mount.