Gas prices down 5.9 cents, starting road back to pre-Harvey levels
Further decrease expected next week, says oil researcher
It's good news for drivers in Newfoundland and Labrador — gas is down by nearly six cents Thursday morning.
The break sees the price come closer to levels before Hurricane Harvey affected several refineries in the southern United States, and caused a steep 13-cent increase in prices last week.
The maximum price of a litre of regular gas on the Avalon Peninsula is now $1.33. In central, the max price has fallen to $1.36, while southern Labrador remains the highest at $1.50.
And while forecasts are early, George Murphy, an oil researcher with the Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices, doesn't believe the slide in prices is over.
"The numbers are certainly starting to reflect something is going to happen again next week," Murphy said, adding another decrease of around five cents seems imminent.
With a particularly disastrous hurricane season in full swing, researchers like Murphy are always looking ahead to the next storm.
The unpredictability in American oil markets this month shows the need for stronger measures to be taken in Canada to safeguard consumers, Murphy said, such as a moratorium on closures of any more refineries in the country.
"I think it's apparent to everyone out there that more needs to be done to protect Canadian consumers in cases like this," he said.