Standing by my numbers
Prices should have dropped to consumers-PPO needs to explain

News release

Paradise, NL, June 14, 2007- “Pricing to consumers in Newfoundland and Labrador should have come down and the Petroleum Pricing Office needs to explain why they never,” according to George Murphy, group researcher and member of the Consumer Group for Fair Gas prices.

“I know my numbers were solid this time around. Numbers from the markets after weekend trading showed a solid 4.37 cents a litre down (5.0/Litre taxes in) and they held that trend right up to Tuesday trading close. Markets showed a 5.1 cent a litre drop coming then. I know my numbers were right and I’ll stand by them. Consumers should be looking at five cents a litre down this morning but they aren’t. My numbers fall well within the requirement of four cents a litre up or down in movement for the interrupter formula to work,” said Murphy.

“Other centers like Nova Scotia and New Brunswick saw pricing drop well below what we have here and that’s now all out of sync. Traditionally, what I have noticed was that we would follow in price drops and be close to what pricing would be in those provinces. If they’re using New York Mercantile Exchange numbers, then there is something wrong here. All three of my sources can’t be wrong.

“The last three price changes were just about dead on. Two weeks ago showed they were dead accurate while last week’s price change was out by 2/10ths of a cent. I work on a margin of error of 3/10ths. My numbers exceeded that this week, enough to show interruption and that resulted in the predicted drop coming at the pumps. Rather than miss this one by three tenths, I must have missed this one by a couple of extra hundredths. Frankly, I’m disappointed that the companies just didn’t drop prices ahead of schedule while the impetus is there. If there is any good news it’s that we’re still on track for a 5.1 cent a litre drop next week with eight days out of a possible 14 recorded.”

-30-

For more information, contact;

George Murphy
Consumer Group for Fair Gas prices

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