Gas prices will be dropping across Prince Edward Island on Sunday. Guardian file photo.

Islanders can expect a break at the pumps this weekend.

Gas prices will drop by 3.5 cents per litre effective 12:01 a.m. Sunday morning. That will push the price for unleaded gas down to between 98 and $1.01 cents per litre.

Diesel and home heating oil prices will also drop but by 1.8 cents per litre.

The Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission will confirm the new prices Sunday.

Oil slid Friday to its lowest price in a month as investors started to pay more attention to a year-long slump in American energy demand.

For most of the year, oil prices surged as investors pumped money into crude contracts to protect themselves from a weakening U.S. dollar. Oil was thought of as a safe bet with demand expected to rise next year.

But as crude prices doubled from March to October, consumers and businesses continued to use less gasoline and diesel. Refiners struggled. In parts of the U.S. Midwest this week, gasoline was selling at a cheaper price than the oil used to make it, according to the Oil Price Information Service.

With their business models turned upside down, many refiners decided to scale back and cut their losses.

Energy Information Administration data showed this week that refiners are operating at the lowest levels ever — except for years when hurricanes disrupted operations in the Gulf of Mexico — according to analyst Stephen Schork.