Gas prices in southwestern Saskatchewan are expected to continue to decline over the next week, according to an expert.

The prices were driven up in late August and early September after a series of hurricanes hit the southern part of the United States.

"The benefit of the doubt is that they're (southwest gas retailers) still going through expensive inventory that they bought between September 1 and September 5, when prices were anywhere from 11-13 cents per litre higher for them," Dan McTeague, senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy, said. "It's been two weeks now and one would think that that should start to come down."

Retailers paid as much as 68.3 cents per litre on August 31, but with standard taxes from the federal government of 10 cents per litre, provincial taxes of 15 cents per litre, and federal GST of five percent pushing the price retailer cost to 98 cents per litre without covering retailer reward programs.

As of this morning, retailers are now paying 55.2 cents per litre, causing an approximate 13-cents-per-litre disparity.

"Gas prices have come down about 5 to 7 cents per litre, but we're still out another 7 to 8 cents," McTeague explained. "93 to 94 cents per litre is what I would expect to start to see as the target number here in southern Saskatchewan."

McTeague also noted he expects gas prices to hover around 90 cents per litre for a while.