The following is being distributed at the request of the Public Utilities Board�s Petroleum Pricing Office (PPO):

No Change for Maximum Regulated Fuel Prices

The criteria for the Public Utilities Board and its Petroleum Pricing Office�s interruption formula were not met for either of the fuels regulated in Newfoundland and Labrador, including all types of gasoline, automotive diesel, furnace/stove oil and residential propane. Therefore, the maximum prices last established December 21, 2006 will remain in effect.

The next scheduled price change is Thursday, January 4, 2007.

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Media contact:
Michelle Hicks, Communications.
1-866-489-8800, 709-489-8837
mhicks@pub.nl.ca

BACKGROUNDER

Regulation schedule: The board currently sets maximum prices for petroleum products every two weeks. Every Thursday following a scheduled adjustment, consumers will experience either no change in price or a change triggered by the criteria being met for the IF.

Interruption formula: The criteria for the board�s IF, which is used to adjust for market volatility between scheduled pricing adjustments, include:

• For gasoline, diesel or furnace/stove oil, price fluctuations on NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange) must exceed an average of � 4.0 cents per litre (cpl) over a seven-day period from the last regulated benchmark price for each fuel.
• For residential propane, figures are derived from pricing activity at the Sarnia rack that is published in Bloomberg�s Oil Buyer�s Guide. Weekly figures must exceed a � 5.0 cpl change from the previously established benchmark under regulation.

More information can be found on the board�s Web site at www.pub.nl.ca, or via this link under the heading �Overview of the New Regulatory Pricing Model.�