Calgary Gas Price Increase Hits Drivers With 35-Cent Jump
Calgary gas price increase hit some drivers overnight Wednesday, with prices jumping about 35 cents per litre at some stations. For anyone who pulled in early, the gap at the pump opened fast: one Esso station was still below $1.50 per litre in the morning, then moved above $1.85 per litre by midday.
Israel Hadush at 26th Avenue
Israel Hadush arrived at the Esso near 26th Avenue and 14th Street S.W. when the sign still read $1.49 per litre. He paid inside at that lower rate, but the pump shut off just as he started fueling, turning a routine stop into a race against a price change already working through the station.
“Immediately when I started pumping, it just stopped,” Hadush said. “Even though I already paid, they told me the gas already went up, so (I) can’t pay what it was,” he added. His account shows how quickly station pricing moved from one posted number to another, leaving the printed sign behind before the fill-up was finished.
Wednesday’s $1.85 per litre
About 35 cents per litre was the size of the overnight jump at some Calgary stations, a move that pushed many prices to more than $1.85 per litre by midday Wednesday. At the Esso near 26th Avenue and 14th Street S.W., the morning price below $1.50 per litre had already disappeared by shortly before noon, when the station’s rate surged past that level.
North American oil prices continued to climb amid the United States and Israel’s war on Iran, adding a wider market push behind the local jump. For Calgary drivers, the practical result was immediate: the amount shown on the sign could change before a tank was full, and a driver who started at one rate could be asked to finish at another.
That leaves the sharpest takeaway in the smallest detail. A driver who entered the station at $1.49 per litre could end up facing a much higher posted price before the nozzle stopped, and Wednesday’s move showed how fast that spread can appear at a single Calgary pump.
