Montreal gas prices jump overnight to $1.17 a litre

Montreal-area drivers who didn't fill up their vehicles on Tuesday night may be kicking themselves today after gas prices jumped overnight by more than 15 cents per litre.

Gas prices in the greater Montreal region are now hovering around $1.17 a litre.

"We were expecting that there was going to be an increase because we know that when the retail margins are really small in Montreal [a low price] doesn't last very long — but this time, for us, the spike in the price is way too high," said CAA-Québec spokeswoman Anne-Sophie Hamel.

She said Montrealers pay the highest sales taxes on gas in North America — about 36 per cent. Drivers here also pay a three-cent-a-litre carbon tax.

CAA-Québec recently released its report into 2014 gas prices.

Hamel said that report showed that gas prices went up on 18 Fridays in 2014. She said one-third of the price spikes were not justified.

She said gas distributors enjoyed a nine per cent increase in retail margins between 2013 and 2014.

"That is not acceptable," Hamel said. "Things need to change in this area."