The vice president of a fuel distribution company in Halifax predicts that soaring gasoline prices will soon peak and begin to decline in Atlantic Canada.

David Collins,an executive with Wilson Fuel Co., says he sees speculators driving up gas prices due to expectations of shortages stemming from the closure of refineries in the northeast U.S.

Collins say when you add that many buyers into the market, the price goes up.

But he said a look at the futures market for gasoline shows a decline coming, with the August price expected to be seven cents lower.

He said he can see the price at the pumps in the region first reaching $1.45 a litre, or maybe touching $1.47, but he then expects a decline in the summer.

He says it wouldn’t surprise him to see summer prices of about $1.20 per litre.