Waterloo region drivers are taking advantage of the lower price at the pumps before an expected hike brings the price of gas back to prices seen in mid-July.

Earlier this week, the president of Canadians for Affordable Energy Dan McTeague predicted that, in the coming days, drivers will have to dig deeper into their pockets at the pumps.

He said Ontarians are witnessing a “bottoming out” in gas prices, and a price jump of 30 cents per litre could be coming to the pumps.

He said regular fuel prices could reach as high as $1.90 per litre in part to the unpredictable oil and gas market.

That prediction meant some drivers were deciding to fill up now while prices are low, instead of waiting for an empty tank.

“I think it’s good to be proactive,” said driver Joanne Renau. “We’re going to the beach soon, and that’s a bit of a drive, so I want to just have a full tank. We’re retired, we’re on a fixed income, so it’s always a concern.”

According to GasBuddy, a user-generated aggregate of data that tracks gas prices, Kitchener gas prices were hovering around $1.549 per litre Friday morning.

Some stations in the city has gas as cheap as $1.529.

“I heard yesterday that gas is going to go up quite a bit so, it’s better to fill it up so it lasts me a couple weeks maybe,” said Joanna Warowny as he chuckled.

Historical data from Natural Resources Canada shows the price of daily average price for retail gasoline in Kitchener peaked in early June when gas prices were $2.148 per litre.

Despite the downward trend in gas prices, the current prices are still roughly 10 cents per litre higher than January of this year were prices were around $1.414.