HALIFAX—If you can wait until Friday to fuel your vehicle, Dan McTeague is strongly advising you to do so.

That’s because prices at pumps across the province are expected to drop and hover around the $1 per litre mark. That number may even dip below $1 in the coming weeks, as gas prices are expected to remain lower until at least the second week of December.

McTeague, a senior petroleum analyst at gasbuddy.com, said after midnight Thursday, gas prices are expected to drop by about three cents per litre here in Nova Scotia.

“That’s the fifth week in a row we’ve seen successive decreases, most of it due to the fact there just is no more interest or support for oil,” McTeague said.

“If you can hold off until Friday we’re looking at a likely closer to 3 cent a litre decrease … You’ll be down to $1.029 to $1.035 here in the province by midnight tomorrow night.”

This week regular gas has been selling in the Halifax area for 105.9 cents per litre, with some retailers offering incentives that saw consumers paying as little as 102.4 cents per litre. Provincially, the average price this week is 106.5. In Nova Scotia, fuel is regulated and prices are set by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.

“There is more supply than demand globally, and that has certainly been accelerated by what happened with expectations that Iran would see all of its oil blockaded by the U.S. under its sanctions. It turned out at the last minute the U.S. changed its mind and that allowed a number of countries to continue importing Iranian oil, temporarily at least.”

The last time gas prices dropped below $1 per litre in Nova Scotia was in June of 2017. McTeague said during the week of June 25 to July 5, 2017, Nova Scotians were paying between 98.9 and 99.9 per litre at the pumps.

“I think we’re going to get awfully close to that $1 a litre or less. It’ll be really a question of how close we can get. We’ll need another drop probably of about $5 a barrel, in other words oil getting down to the $49, $48 range,” he explained.

“We may not touch, but we will get very close to that (below $1) number.”

McTeague said the pre-holiday gift of lower fuel prices will likely stretch into at least the second week of December.

“It would appear that the only real date for any potential movement upwards would be after Dec. 6 when OPEC meets and decides whether or not it will cut back oil production and the extent of that cutback and whether or not of course Russia will play ball,” he said.

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Yvette d’Entremont is a Halifax-based reporter focusing on health. Follow her on Twitter: @ydentremont

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