According to an expert, Hurricane Harvey could have an impact on Saskatchewan's gas prices.

The category three hurricane began pushing Texas oil refineries offline on Friday and depending on the longevity and flooding in the refinery area's will determine just how much it will affect prices.

"The longer and the number of refineries that are knocked offline will mean that you could see prices move up by the end of next week," senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy Dan McTeague said. "Roughly this time next week we will have a clearer picture of not just the devastation, but the length of time it takes for refineries to get back online producing gasoline if they don't all bets are off and prices will go up."

The potentially-catastrophic storm could affect upwards of 20 percent of the US' oil refineries, with most of that be pipelined into New York, Boston, Washington and the Atlantic seaboard that would be affected by the disruption and potential shortage.

"A shortage means of course that prices will have to respond, as this is a traded commodity," he said. "If it goes up whether you're in western Canada, US mid-west or Pacific northwest, all markets across North America will be affected as the potential for wholesalers looking for alternatives in other regions of the continent will do so as quickly as they can driving prices up universally."

McTeague noted that the combination of Labour Day long weekend and the refineries being offline could result in gas prices climbing 5 cents a litre.