Oil trading in New York fell sharply on Monday as petrol, diesel and heating oil prices fell.
According to New Brunswick oil pricing rules, this drop should be passed on to consumers at local pumps on Wednesday.
But on Thursday, the normal New Brunswick formula returns and based on trading in New York all week, prices seem ready to return to current levels, if not higher.
According to Reuters, the increase in COVID-19 cases in China caused a lockdown in the Shanghai economic hub and led the world oil and gas markets to reversal on Monday.
Concerns that Shanghai’s troubles could spark a backlash in other major Chinese cities and slow the economy, causing energy prices to plummet.
“Fears that lockdowns could spread … have led to further market declines,” Andrew Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston told Reuters.
In New York’s spot markets in New Brunswick, gasoline sales fell between seven and eight cents per liter, with diesel down at least nine cents.
Any change in trades greater than six cents must be applied to the current New Brunswick’s maximum price by midnight the next day.
At 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, New Brunswick will have the lowest gas prices in almost four weeks, but only for 24 hours.
Wednesday’s fall will be the eighth special price adjustment in New Brunswick in March, as Russia’s war in Ukraine and ongoing COVID problems drive oil markets up and down with unprecedented frequency.
Gasoline prices have jumped more than eight cents overnight in New Brunswick four times and will have fallen three or more times since Wednesday, making it difficult for budget-savvy motorists to time their purchases.
An additional wrinkle this week is the increase in carbon charges on April 1st. That means an extra 2.2 cents on the price of gasoline on Friday.
