Many Edmonton drivers are celebrating the recent drop in prices at the pump, but that’s not the case for those driving diesel vehicles.

In Edmonton, regular gasoline is currently hovering around 90 cents per litre while diesel sits at roughly $1.14 per litre.

One local expert says this is the biggest difference in gas and diesel pump prices seen in Alberta in decades.

“We haven’t seen a spread like this ever, in 30 years,” said Richard Dixon, with the Centre for Applied Business Research in Energy and the Environment at the University of Alberta.

“The crack spreads have changed a little bit but not to this dramatic change.”

Dixon says the gap in prices is due to supply and demand.

“We’ve got a lot of diesel vehicles here in Alberta in particular, we’ve got a lot of use for diesel within industry, commercialization, and there’s just so much diesel that can be produced,” he said.

“The fact that there’s a world crunch on for the use of diesel and fuel oils at this time of year especially… so all of that is combining to keep our diesel prices much higher.”

Dixon says every three barrels of crude oil produces two barrels of gasoline and one barrel of diesel, and the equation can’t be changed.

He says unless the demand for diesel drops, the price won’t either.

“This is settling in to be much more of a long-term effect,” Dixon said.

The higher cost of diesel is also expected to impact the transportation of goods.

“It will come through to the consumer in food transportation,” Dixon said.

“You see it in the trucking industry, shipping from a distance is going to cost more.”

But the average consumer may not notice.

“At the end of the day it’s going to be a small percentage in terms of the total mix of the pricing. It won’t be like a big jump in prices but there will be a pressure on the price,” Dixon said.

For now it’s more apparent to drivers whose personal vehicles are diesels, like Edmontonian Ken Kaisner, who spent more than $100 filling up his diesel truck on Tuesday.

Kaisner said seeing higher diesel prices when gas is so low, is unfair, but admits he’s probably better off in the long-run.

“You’re not supposed to use as much diesel,” Kaisner said.

“Diesel is supposed to be more fuel-efficient.”

With files from Laura Lowe