Ottawa gas prices reach record high

Ottawa gas prices have reached a record high, and one expert says they will increase further throughout the weekend.

The average gas price in Ottawa reached $1.50 per litre on Friday morning. They are expected to go up another penny on Saturday and yet another on Sunday.

"We're looking at $1.52, $1.53 at the high end," Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, told CTV Morning Live. "These are all record prices."

The rising gas costs come as prices of crude oil rises. A barrel of crude reached $90 U.S. on Wednesday, the highest it's been since 2014.

"They're not likely to slow down," McTeague said. "If we go to $100 oil, we could see that scenario of $1.60 a litre."

McTeague said supply chain constraints, tensions in Ukraine, the weakness of the Canadian dollar are also contributing factors.

Ottawa motorists were shocked to find prices at $1.50 a litre Friday.

"It's the first time I've seen that, for sure," said Martin. "I'm not going to fill it full."

Lara Nasrallah called gas prices, "insane."

"Gas prices are going up like crazy," said Nasrallah Friday afternoon. "Can't put the keys away, I have to work; so, I don't know what we can do."

The CAA offers several tips to cut down on fuel consumption, including getting all your errands done in one trip instead of several small trips.

“You want to make sure that the tire pressures are at proper inflation, we’re at the perfect temperature right now where they can fluctuate," said Mike Schmidt, CAA North-East Ontario operations manager.

"Plan your trips, we have all this amazing technology -  we’ve got the Google maps, we’ve got the Waze, the Apple maps; we’ve got everything navigation in our cars. Those systems are designed to get you to the quickest, most efficient routes possible."