Still pointing "down"

After twelve days out of a possible 14, gasoline pricing is still projected to show a modest drop to Newfoundland and Labrador consumers.

A moderately good inventory report from the Energy Information Administration in the United States this week shows that, while refiner capacity may not have increased, inventories of gasoline showed a slight increase for the second week in a row. Hopefully, this coming Wednesday's report will show a third consecutive.

A "brick wall" has been hit this last couple of weks it seems. Maybe consumers are finally getting the conservation message and maybe they've come to realize that the prices they were seeing at the pumps simply weren't justified under any conditions.

What you did see the past couple of weeks was the realisation that inventory shortfalls and refiner capacity have come into question and they both remain as proof of the oil companies will to manipulate supply and demand. Because they've cut back on the number of operating refineries, they can't produce what the market needs. Because they didn't sink money into refinery maintenance, any shutdown only added to the upwards spurt in gasoline and heating oil spot prices.

Either way, for Big Oil, it's "win-win".

Anyways, if you're in Newfoundland and Labrador, so far we're looking at 3.8 cents a litre down at the pumps with two business days to go. Heating oils and stove oils both show a rough half cent down.

Here's hopin'!...

Regards,

George