Gas prices soared by 6.4 cents per litre overnight in Nova Scotia, bringing the cost of regular self-serve to $1.36 in the Halifax area.

That is the lowest price in the province; gas is selling up to four cents higher in other areas. The price of diesel also jumped, by 3.7 cents per litre, up to $1.32.

The price hike in Nova Scotia comes on the heels of a jump in New Brunswick, where the price of regular unleaded, self-serve gasoline went up more than a nickel Thursday.

Analysts say events at home and abroad, such as unrest in oil-producing nations such as Egypt and Syria, are driving the summer price spike.

So too is the drop in the price of gold, which is causing speculators to turn to oil, and that renewed demand is pushing prices skyward.

“If I thought there was a good reason for it then I wouldn’t mind but I don’t think there’s a good reason for it,” says one Halifax resident.

Some motorists say the jump at the pumps is forcing them to change their driving habits, while others say they just have to grin and bear it.

“Yeah, it does to a degree. We don’t always go where we want,” says one Halifax resident.

“I have to use it to work anyway, right?” says cab driver John O’Handley. “It’s the same as if you were a carpenter and the price of steel and nails go up. You’ve still go to work.”

It’s a similar story around the region; gas is selling for about $1.30 in New Brunswick and P.E.I. motorists are paying $1.29 per litre.

But it’s not just Maritimers who are feeling pain at the pumps; prices climbed to more than $1.30 in Ottawa and gas is selling for more than $1.50 per litre in Vancouver.

California tourist Bob McClurg is in Halifax – just one of his many stops during a five-month road trip. He says he won’t let gas prices rule his life.

“I think my wife told me that other day we’ve spent about $1,200 already,” says McClurg. “You wish the prices were lower, but you’ve got to realize there’s nothing you can do about it so you’ve got to pay for it and go with what has to go.”

According to CAA, gas prices have had little impact on travel plans in the last couple of years, but they have noticed a few changes, including length of stay and level of accommodations.

“You know if you have a wedding in, say, Ontario this summer that you’ve planned to go, I don’t think gas prices are going to change your habits,” says business professor Ed McHugh.

But McHugh says skyrocketing gas prices may force some motorists to change their summer plans.

“I think people on a fixed income, absolutely I think this will change their plans,” says McHugh. “They know they only have a certain budget of money, they can’t change it.”

If gas prices continue to soar, McHugh says a longer-term effect could be a change in the types of vehicles we see on the road.

Some American analysts say gas prices could rise another 10 per cents before the end of the summer, which could push the cost to almost $1.50 per litre in some areas.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jacqueline Foster