Effective 12:01 a.m. Thursday, June 5, 2008, the
Public Utilities Board, through its Petroleum Pricing Office, set new
maximum prices for regulated fuel products as per its scheduled biweekly
pricing adjustments.
Maximum prices, except in areas under a price freeze,
will move as follows:
All types of gasoline will increase by 3.8 or 3.9
cents per litre (cpl) � depending on the HST rounding effect;
Automotive diesel will decrease 0.1 or 0.2 cpl �
also due to HST rounding;
Furnace and stove oil will decrease 4.29 cpl;
and,
Residential propane used for home heating
purposes will decrease 0.1 cpl.
Recent pricing movements on the commodity markets were
mainly related to issues of global demand versus available supplies.
This resulted in numerous fluctuations, occurring at times daily, for
the prices of refined petroleum products.
Gasoline demand has reportedly eased slightly in the
U.S., the lead energy consumer. Other factors, however, have
precipitated an overall average increase based on two weeks of market
data, including declining gasoline inventories, a surge in crude oil
prices and the increased costs associated with producing a summer grade
product. Furnace and stove oil
Overall, U.S. demand for all types of fuel is reported
to have dropped in the short term because of persistent high prices,
while demand growth in developing regions (where fuel is often
subsidized), such as Asia and India, showed little signs of slowing.
Mixed pricing pressures have also resulted from: fears the U.S. economic
slump will worsen; the start of hurricane season � prices swung wildly
as Tropical Storm Arthur approached and missed oil infrastructure in the
Gulf of Mexico; and, ongoing protests in France over high fuel prices
that have blocked or slowed down deliveries from refineries since this
past weekend.
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