Numbers show increases are on the way to consumers

Media release

Conception Bay South, NL, January 11, 2010- Consumers in Newfoundland and Labrador will be paying more for petroleum products this coming Thursday when the Public Utilities Board moves to make pricing adjustments. That’s from George Murphy of the Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices.

“With thirteen days out of a possible fourteen days of data available, there is enough information there to inform consumers of impending price increases to come this Thursday morning. The numbers are substantial. Consumers should see an added 3.8 cents a litre onto heating and stove oil prices, an added 4.5 cents a litre on diesel numbers and an added 4.3 cents a litre on gasoline,” Murphy said.

“Blame colder weather in the US, a falling US dollar, and the fact that there has been so substantial pick-up in refinery capacity and you have the recipe for increases coming. Refinery capacity has dropped in the previous week to sit just below eighty per cent, a near historic low, in an effort to mitigate building refined product and help support prices. If the Canadian dollar wasn’t strong against the US greenback, we could have been looking at even more substantial numbers. The Canuck Buck has gained close to two cents against its US counterpart.

“While there was some slight building in inventories of gasoline and crude oil last week, I would have to see a prolonged period of increases there to say that we’ve seen the end of any increases. Distillate supplies that include heating, stove oils and diesels saw a drawdown in inventories this past week and the colder weather in the US will also affect distillate supplies again this week as well, dampening any possibility of pricing relief for the time being.”

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For more information, contact;

George Murphy
Group researcher/Member
Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices