VANCOUVER – After several weeks of tumbling gas prices, the price at the pump has inched upward.

So what happened?

“The traders on the world markets, in New York and other places, decided that prices of gasoline were simply too low to be true, and as a result, added on about, looks like about 7 or 8 cents a litre at the wholesale level,” said Dan McTeague, a senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com.

“In the Pacific Northwest, so call it British Columbia’s Lower Mainland, and of course Washington State, all along the west coast have had pretty darn good prices, but as of late, there’s been some disturbances. Those being maintenance issues, some refineries shutting down [and] not coming back on very quickly, and then of course the whole speculation from the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).”

McTeague said there is a belief that there is not enough gas to go around. “Plenty of oil,” he said, “but not enough gasoline and as a result, that combined with the weakening Canadian dollar, added to a pretty significant punch for motorists.”

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Prices at the pump of late have fluctuated from 99 cents a litre or lower, to $1.08 or $1.10 in a matter of days.

McTeague said the bad news does not end there; prices could increase as much as two or three cents a litre, likely by Thursday.

“What we’re seeing here in Vancouver is a little different,” he added. “Like Toronto, major retailers owned by the big companies that supply into the market, have increased their margin from eight cents a litre, to nine cents a litre. So when you add that, you add the taxes, you add the increase prices, concerns about the Shell plant in Anacortes and Puget Sound shutting down at the end of this month for a longer period of time, 15,000 barrels of gasoline being produced there, it does create a sort of potential for tightness.”

WATCH: Senior petroleum analyst Dan McTeague tells Global News why prices at the pump are increasing, despite the lower price of oil.

Prices at the pump could reach $1.13 in Vancouver by Thursday.

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