The Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission announced today the following petroleum pricing decisions, effective February 1, 2007:
Current Gasoline prices will remain in effect.
Current Diesel fuel prices will remain in effect.
Furnace fuel and stove oil prices will increase 4.5 cents per litre.
Propane prices for both Irving Oil Marketing and Superior Propane Inc. will decrease by 2 cents per litre.
While approved prices are not changing for gasoline and diesel fuel, provincial tax adjustments reflecting the January 15th decreases will come into effect and will result in a slight decrease in pump prices for both products. Pump prices for regular unleaded gasoline at self serve outlets will now range from 90.1 cpl to 91.7 cpl.
The trend toward lower fuel prices has reversed over the past two weeks resulting in increases for both crude oil and refined products. Crude prices have increased by over $6 per barrel since January 15th and that has placed upward pressure on fuel commodity prices.
Markets have also been impacted by suggested additional OPEC production cutbacks, reports of increased oil consumption and the forecast of colder than normal weather. These factors have more than offset the slow downward trend that had been experienced and, in fact, the market has recently witnessed some of the most significant day over day price increases of the past two years. Market analysts remain divided over pricing direction, but most expect crude will remain in the $55 per barrel range while commodity prices will continue to be impacted by a variety of other market factors such as demand and weather.
The Commission’s next scheduled price adjustment will be on February 15, 2007.