Gas prices drop 3 cents in 8th straight weekly reduction

Plunging oil prices have again made for a lighter load at gas stations in Newfoundland and Labrador, with the fuels regulator dropping maximum prices by almost three cents per litre.

The Public Utilities Board lowered the ceiling on gas prices by as much as 2.9 cents per litre. The change may be slightly less in some pricing areas because of rounding for taxes.

The reduction is the eighth straight week that gas prices in Newfoundland and Labrador have declined.

The PUB's weekly setting brought the maximum price of a litre of self-serve unleaded gas on the Avalon Peninsula to 98.7 cents.

That marks the first time since May 2009 that gas prices in the area have sold below the $1-a-litre threshold.

Even so, many consumers on the Avalon have been paying well under that mark for weeks, largely due to competition among retailers for business.

Gas prices now are about 38 cents lower than they were one year ago.

Meanwhile, the PUB ordered a drop also of 2.9 cents in the cost of diesel.

The cost of heating a home also dropped. Furnace oil is down 2.255 cents per litre, while stove oil dropped 0.94 cents a litre. Propane for heating also dropped by half a cent a litre.