Select Committee Releases Petroleum Product Pricing Report

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY--Select Committee Releases Petroleum Product Pricing Report

Nova Scotia should enact legislation by the spring of 2005 to help stabilize the price of products like gasoline and home heating fuel, says the Select Committee on Petroleum Product Pricing.

In a report submitted to the clerk of the legislature, the committee says its first preference is for legislation that would forbid corporations that are involved in the exploration, extraction or refining of petroleum products from retailing those products in Nova Scotia.

If that is not feasible, the report says, legislation should be put in place that would implement a system of regulations overseen by the province's Utility and Review Board.

"This was not an easy exercise to complete in just two months," committee chair Bill Dooks said today, Sept. 1. "The compressed time frame made it difficult to fully explore everything that committee members wanted to explore. It was our consensus, however, that the province has to implement change in order to better protect the consumer."

The all-party committee was created in May of 2004 to examine the supply and pricing of fuels, including gasoline and home heating oil, to determine whether current prices are justified and fair. It heard from 51 presenters during public hearings across the province and received about 70 written submissions.

Other recommendations in the committee's final report suggest that legislation require all refineries to sell their products at the same price to bulk buyers and that it forbid below-cost selling.

The report notes the critical role that fuel plays in the economic and social health of remote communities and recommends that the province find ways to support the continued availability of fuel supplies necessary. The committee also says more must be done to increase energy efficiency and to encourage alternatives to traditional reliance on fossil fuels.

Members of the select committee said they were disappointed that more consumers did not attend the public hearings this summer and that some large oil companies did not participate in the process. But they note that this should be only one step in an ongoing process that must be carefully monitored in order to provide stability for consumers and the industry.

The Select Committee Report on Petroleum Product Pricing is available on the website at [www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/COMMITTEES/petroleum_product_pricing.ht ml](http://www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/COMMITTEES/petroleum_product_pricing.ht ml) .