Nova Scotians are receiving some relief at the pumps as the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (UARB) has invoked its interrupter clause.
The price of gas in Nova Scotia is now 131.5 cents per litre — a seven and a half cent decrease. The price of diesel is now 131.8 cents per litre.
The UARB said Tuesday it would be invoking its interrupter clause at midnight, in order to adjust the prices of gasoline and diesel oil.
“This change is necessary due to significant shifts in the market prices of gasoline and diesel oil,” the board wrote in a news release.
Analysts had predicted that gas prices would drop by at least 10 cents per litre in most of Canada this week after the price of oil plunged last Friday.
Energy stocks have plummeted due to panic on the world markets as a result of the emergence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.
The rest of the country has already seen the change in gas prices.
Gas prices in Montreal hovered around $1.53 per litre on Friday. By Sunday afternoon the average price fell to $1.44 per litre.
In the Maritime provinces, however, the price of gas is regulated by a utility board or commission.
In Nova Scotia, the UARB monitors the markets for gasoline and diesel oil daily and, should conditions warrant, may set a new price at any time.
The last time the interrupter was used by the board was in March of this year when the price of gas fell by eight cents a litre.