Gas prices tumble by 2.5 cents

Motorists got a small break Thursday, as Newfoundland and Labrador's fuels regulator approved a drop in gas prices. 

The Public Utilities Board ordered retailers to lower pump prices by as much as 2.5 cents per litre. The reduction may be slightly less in some pricing zones because of rounding for taxes. 

Thursday's weekly setting means that the most a gas station on the Avalon Peninsula, for instance, can charge for a litre of self-serve unleaded fuel is now $1.40. 

The drop is the first in three weeks. 

The PUB also ordered a similar drop in the price of diesel. 

Meanwhile, furnace oil prices dropped, also by 2.5 cents per litre. 

Residential propane used for home-heating, though, increased by 1.6 cents per litre.