GasBuddy petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan says the rate of increase in the price of gas is expected to slow down but will continue to climb.

This morning, Cochrane motorists awoke to a 10 cent per litre hike in the cost at the pumps, and now it's typically $1.68 per litre.

"The pace of increases at the pump will likely slow down, but it will continue, perhaps at a slower rate," De Haan said early this afternoon. "For anyone who has a diesel vehicle, it's going to get much, much worse."

"Canada is likely to hit an average of $2.00 per litre in the next couple of weeks. That's an all-time high for Canada."

Stateside, the price of oil has reached a record high, averaging US$4.22 per American gallon of gas and US$4.50 per gallon for diesel. He's expecting the price of diesel will eclipse $5.00 per gallon.

While there is a nominal amount of gas and gas productions imported from Russia, any shift in direction on their policies could change the calculus.

He says the European Union (EU) currently imports 40 per cent of its energy productions from Russia and doubts they would put an embargo on their petroleum products.

"If the EU were to cut off Russian energy, that would cause an absolute explosion of the price of oil. It could go up to $170-$200 a barrel, but for now, the Germans have made very plain that they do continue to import and will continue to import oil from Russia because they are beholden to Russia and their natural gas supply, so I do not expect Europe to make any sort of shockwaves there in the global market."