Gas prices jumped nearly 20 cents at some Greater Victoria stations on Thursday, hitting 134.9 a litre for regular fuel. The lower price of $1.159 was prevailing in early evening at some locations, but wasn’t expected to last.

The national average was 121.8 cents on Thursday while Calgary had the lowest price in Canada at 100.145 cents, according to GasBuddy.com.

A year ago, Victoria drivers were paying 122.57 for a litre of gas, the website said. The Victoria price had been relatively stable for several months.

Crude oil prices fell Thursday, with the benchmark West Texas intermediate crude dipping 45 cents to close at $97.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. However, oil finished up more than $5 for the month of January, the biggest monthly increase since August. Also, Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, rose 65 cents to $115.55 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange .
 

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