Gas prices in Ontario reached their lowest point in three years on Tuesday but analysts warned that good news for commuters means bad news for refineries.

Motorists looking to fill up their vehicles on their way to work this morning were in for a pleasant surprise. Gas prices fell more than six cents overnight.

The cheapest gas in Toronto is about 83.5 cents a litre in the city's east end, according to gasbuddy.com. The lowest price in Ontario is Brockville, where one gas station is charging only 81.9 cents a litre.

The last time Ontarians enjoyed such cheap gas was in February, 2006, Gasbuddy co-founder Jason Toews told The Canadian Press.

Across Canada, a litre of gas was on average priced at 88 cents in Calgary, 91 cents in Montreal, 95 cents in Montreal, 97 cents in Vancouver and $1.05 in Newfoundland. The national average is about 98.3 cents a litre.

Falling crude oil prices continue to push the cost of gasoline down, Crude oil is the main ingredient in gasoline and makes up less than half of the cost of refining gasoline. Government taxes make up the rest of the cost.

December's delivery of light, sweet crude rose $6.82 to US$70.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday. The commodity rebounded after reaching US$60 a barrel in recent days but it is still nowhere close to reaching its record-high price of US$147 set in July.

Toews said it could take months for the cost of falling crude oil to be reflected at the pumps.

"We're going to see the prices continue to decrease," he said.

However, good news at the pump is bad news for the industry, as prices narrow the crack spread, or profit margin, for refineries turning oil into gas, BNN's Michael Kane said Tuesday on Canada AM. 

"So it is becoming increasingly unprofitable for refineries to operate," Kane said. "That means many could reduce their output and that would push gasoline prices higher once again."

Michael Ervin, an oil industry analyst, agreed with Kane and said that refineries will not profit the way they have for the past eight years.

"Certainly this is great news for commuters but the lower price is a reflection of the fact that refineries are not making very much margin on the sale," he said in an interview with CTV Newsnet Tuesday afternoon. "It's not a very profitable time for them at all."

Ervin said refineries had been running at full capacity but have stalled because the reduction in demand is well below what it historically is during this time of year.

However, he also pointed out that refineries are typically not a profitable business but because of the high demand over the past eight years, have been able to enjoy wide profit margins.

"Now, with a softer economy, I think what's going to be a long-term reaction to high pump prices and concern for the environment (is a) long-term decline in demand and with the existing capacity in North America, refiners are just not going to be able to command the same kind of margins they were able to benefit from." 

Toews said a fragile economy in North America is contributing to the wide-spread decrease in demand.

"Anytime people have less money to spend they tend to travel less and if you're out of a job, you probably don't commute every day," he said.

However, he also pointed out that people will have more money to spend now that gasoline costs less which could put the flailing economy back on track.

Scott Wilson, with the Alberta Motor Association, said just because gas prices are coming down, people shouldn't forget the valuable cost-saving measures they adopted when pump prices were high, especially since fuel costs are expected to spike again in the spring.

"The behaviours that they practice and hopefully used on a regular basis this past summer will be very valuable when the next summer rolls around and the price of fuel increases again," he said.

With files from The Canadian Press