The local price of regular gasoline jumped overnight to about $1.19 a litre, up substantially from yesterday, when prices had already begun to rise at some stations.

While the Real Canadian Superstore gas bar was still posting a price of 96.9 cents for regular this morning, some stations were selling at $1.05 per litre Thursday afternoon.

Today's price for regular is the highest since it hit $1.21 last October, in the days of post-Katrina.

Industry analyst Michael Ervin of Calgary's M.J. Ervin and Associates said today the price hike is North American wide and fueled by increasing demand and a tight supply.

'Whitehorse is normally 10 to 15 cents higher than Vancouver, and Vancouver is at $1.08 today,' he said. 'In all likelihood, we are going to see these prices remain up at these levels for quite some time.'

Ervin said this is the time of year that demand typically increases with the onset of the spring and summer travel season for motorists. It's also the time of year when refineries generally slow down production to allow for annual plant maintenance, as they don't want to do it during the winter, or in the summer during peak demand, he said.

Ervin said the price of crude oil is not playing much of a factor in the equation because it has been trading in a fairly narrow range lately.

Rather, the supply-demand scenario is driving up the wholesale price of gasoline, he said.

'It is something not limited to the North, or Canada,' he said. 'It is a North American issue.'

Bob Collins of the Yukon's Department of Energy Mines and Resources noted this morning that wholesale prices have risen about 10 cents a litre from the 58 to 59 cents they were at in mid-March.