Gas prices in Saskatoon fell 3 cents per litre on average last week, averaging 140.63 c/L on Sunday according to GasBuddy.com.

This is the opposite of what happened nationally, with the website reporting an increase of 3.6 c/L to 141.81 c/L.

Prices in Saskatoon Sunday were 8.6 c/L lower than on the same day one year ago and 12.4 c/L higher than a month ago.

The national average has increased 5.0 c/L during the last month and stands 7.8 c/L lower than this day one year ago.

On a provincial scale, Saskatchewan sat at 140.29 c/L as of Sunday, down 1.0 c/L from last week.

Saskatchewan was quite unique, as Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy says, “Most provinces saw gasoline prices rise over the last week, led by notable increases in British Columbia, where refinery maintenance and a looming refinery shutdown in California are keeping the regional market tight.”

He attributes the relief in Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the restart of BP’s Whiting, Indiana, refinery, which helped ease supply concerns in parts of the Prairies.

He adds that with the switch to winter gasoline just around the corner, there could be some price relief later this month if oil prices remain stable and regional issues begin to resolve.