Interrupter clause invoked, gas prices sharply rise in N.S.

Gasoline prices soared yet again overnight as the Nova Scotia Energy Board invoked the interrupter clause in the province.

As of Tuesday, Nova Scotians will be paying 9.3 cents per litre more for gas. At midnight, the minimum price for regular self-serve gasoline went up to 162.0 cents per litre.

Diesel prices did not change and remain at 216.4 per litre.

This marks the third time the provincial regulator invoked the interrupter since the U.S.-Israel war on Iran was launched.

Pipelines, refineries and world’s gas at risk

The Iran war has put at risk some of the world’s most critical oil and gas infrastructure — the pipelines, refineries, and shipping terminals that keep energy flowing from the countries around the Persian Gulf to the global economy.

Strikes by Iranian drones have disrupted operations, while the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz choke point for shipping due to risk of Iranian strikes has left some 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas with nowhere to go. Oil fields in countries including Iraq have cut back output as storage fills up. Qatar, a major supplier of liquefied natural gas, has shut down its exports as well.

“A lot of very critical energy infrastructure has been either forced to shut down because of direct damage from drones and missiles,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Middle East analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, “or because production is effectively being shut in as a result of shipping grinding to a halt. We’re already starting to see some of the global ramifications of that.”

All that has sent prices soaring, raising the cost of everything that needs fuel: flying, running factories, transporting goods, and farming. International benchmark Brent crude has risen from $72.97 the day before the war started to almost $103 on Monday.

With files from Chris Halef, CityNews Halifax and David Mchugh, The Associated Press.

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