http://www.newsday.com/ap/topnews/ap795.htm

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VICTORIA, British Columbia (AP) -- The British Columbia government is preparing for gasoline prices rising to nearly $1 per liter this summer.

The provincial budget tabled Monday assumes gasoline prices could rise by 20 cents a liter and diesel fuel by 10 cents a liter.

Finance Minister Paul Ramsey thought the fuel price assumptions were typographical errors but confirmed the numbers after checking with Finance Ministry bureaucrats.

Gas prices are currently about 72 cents a liter in British Columbia, while diesel fuel costs are about 35 cents a liter

The rising fuel costs will affect provincial ferry service and highway maintenance and construction costs, said a budget risk chart.

Every one cent per liter rise in gasoline prices increases equipment operating costs by $27,000 a year. Higher diesel fuel costs will increase operating costs for the ferry service.

-- viewer (justp@ssing.by), March 29, 2000