Prices posted outside Newfoundland and Labrador gas stations jumped again Thursday, as the province's fuels regulator approved the second five-cent increase in a week.

The Petroleum Pricing Office raised maximum allowable prices of gasoline by 5.1 or 5.2 cents per litre, depending on rounding for taxes in different geographic zones.

All grades of gas in Newfoundland and Labrador are now more expensive than $1.32 per litre.
(CBC)

The move follows a similar setting made just last Thursday, which also responded to record-high trading in the global oil market.

The new settings mean that consumers in the St. John's area, and the rest of the Avalon Peninsula, where prices are cheapest, will pay $1.328 for a litre of self-serve unleaded gas.

Prices vary around the rest of the province. The same litre, for instance, retails for $1.346 on the Burin and Bonavista peninsulas, and $1.406 in Churchill Falls. Prices vary to account for transportation and other costs.

At a gas station in St. John's on Thursday morning, consumer Dave Humber shook his head.

"It's getting kind of rough now. My truck is about 10 years old. When I first had it, a fill-up was around $42 — now it's $90," Humber said.

"This is just wicked."

The settings are about 16 cents higher than they were at this point last year.

Gas prices still have some way to go to match a record set on Sept. 3, 2005, when the PPO, reacting to spiking prices, allowed for settings that included $1.481 per litre in the St. John's area. Five days later, the office lowered prices by 15.9 cents per litre.

In a statement Thursday, the PPO said consumers should brace themselves for more volatility.

"It is anticipated that fuel-pricing adjustments in Newfoundland and Labrador will continue to be significantly influenced by global commodity market activity with appropriate adjustments for local factors to ensure an adequate supply to the provincial fuel network," said the office, which has been regulating fuel prices since 2001.

Some prices were lowered Thursday. The PPO dropped the cost of furnace oil by 2.27 cents per litre and stove oil by 0.12 cents per litre.

Truckers will benefit from a drop of 2.2 or 2.3 cents per litre on the cost of diesel.