The cost of fuel in Nova Scotia is expected to rise for the third time since Friday after the province’s utility and review board announced it will again invoke its interrupter clause.
In a news release, the NSUARB said the interrupter clause will be invoked at midnight Monday night “due to significant shifts in the market prices of gasoline and oil.”
The change in price must be by at least six cents in order for the interrupter clause to be invoked.
The NSUARB did not say what the new price will be. The cost of fuel across the country is skyrocketing as Russia’s war in Ukraine is putting greater pressure on an already-surging oil price environment.
The demand for oil combined with a shortage of supply has been pushing up oil prices, and consequently, gas prices up for weeks.
On Friday, gas prices in Nova Scotia spiked by 10.1 cents — a new record. That record was quickly broken as the NSUARB invoked the interrupter clause that night, pushing the price up by another 8.7 cents.
Right now, the minimum price for regular self-serve gas in Halifax is 175.3 cents, and 190.1 cents for diesel. For comparison, gas was 131.7 cents per litre at the end of August, and 124 cents one year ago.
At the beginning of March 2020, the price of gas in the Halifax area was 105.9 cents, but fell to 64.1 cents by the end of the month as fears of COVID-19 caused gas prices to plummet.