The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reached a preliminary agreement on Wednesday to limit oil production for the first time since the global financial crisis eight years ago.

It’s great news for Alberta’s oil patch, but bad news for consumers filling up at the pumps.

The effort is aimed at reducing a global glut of crude that has kept oil prices way down for almost two years.

Industry analysts call the move a surprise and a step in the right direction, but it’s much too early to tell if it could kickstart any projects in the province.

Nonetheless, the price of oil surged upwards by nearly six percent after the news of the deal broke.

Benchmark U.S. crude jumped $2.38, or 5.3 per cent, to close at $47.05 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard, was up $2.72, or 5.9 per cent, to $48.69 a barrel in London.

Prices are also expected to jump at the pumps as a result.

Dan McTeague, a senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com, says the spike could be as much as 13 cents per litre in Western Canada.

“For us here in Calgary and all of Alberta, we are going to see an increase in the area of 11 to 13 cents a litre. As shocking as that may be, the fact is that at 88 cents a litre, most gas stations are having to buy their fuel for 90 cents a litre and they of course have to add what is called a ‘retail margin’.”

McTeague says the deal is what is driving prices up. “The belief is that that will rebalance the world’s supply of crude. That’s really why we’re seeing a three cent wholesale price and a six to eight cent increase back to the retailers.”

He says the increase could come in as early as this afternoon but more likely on Friday. “If we dodge the bullet, it is going to happen on Monday.”

The spikes in Alberta are among the highest the country will see, mainly because other retailers in Canada work with operating margins.

“It’s cutthroat competition [in Calgary] and it’s the same in Edmonton,” McTeague said. “You are seeing prices 88, 89 cents per litre. If you’re a gas station and you’re buying your gasoline for 90 and selling it for 89, it’s not really a winning business proposition. Sooner or later, you need to recover that seven, eight or nine cents which is your retail margin.”

In the deal, OPEC agreed to drop production from 33.2M barrels per day to 32.5M barrels per day.

It will have to be finalized at a meeting scheduled for the end of November.

(With files from the Associated Press)