Ottawa Web Site Points Motorists to the Cheapest Fuel

Summer is approaching and gas prices are rising in Ottawa.

The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the Ottawa-Gatineau area reached 97.2¢ a litre today, 9 percent higher than last week.

While higher than a week ago, the region's average gas price is still lower than the national average of 106.5¢.

So how do local motorists find the lowest price when they pull up to the pump?

Usually word of mouth, because everyone is talking about it. But there hasn't been much talk about good prices lately.

A growing number of people in Ottawa are turning to the Internet not only to find the lowest gas prices, but to help their fellow motorists do so too.

At GasPricesInOttawa.com, one of a number of gas price Web sites that have cropped up in recent years, motorists can find and report gas prices throughout the Ottawa region, from Carleton Place to Carp to Aylmer to Gatineau.

The Web site has many of volunteers to log on daily and list the prices they've seen at local stations.

They want to be able to buy from the cheapest station in town. People take their gas prices very seriously.

Users can search prices for regular unleaded gas by price or by Ottawa Google Map, get tips on improving fuel economy and read gas price-related news and stories in our blog from media outlets across the country.

Prices on the site are only as accurate as what users provide. Volunteers do monitor the site to see that postings are logical, and the site has software, which automatically removes prices that are obviously false.

GasPricesInOttawa.com is operated privately, an Ottawa based company that started in 2005 and now runs gas price Web site in Ottawa-Gatineau area in the Canada.

Even though supply concerns have sent oil prices higher in recent weeks, retail gas prices are rising because refineries are switching to the summer blend, which contains additional additives that prevent it from evaporating quickly in hot weather. Those additives bring additional costs.

No matter what is going on at a national or international level, gas does go up this time of year.