Posted at 2:25 p.m., Monday, July 16, 2001

Hawai'i gas price highest

Advertiser News Services

CAMARILLO, Calif. — While the rest of the nation is enjoying a timely summer drop in the cost of gasoline, prices in Hawai'i are stubbornly hovering near $2 a gallon, making it the most expensive place in the country to fill your tank.

Nationwide, gas prices are 25 cents a gallon less than at their peak earlier this year, according to a widely quoted survey.

The average price of all grades of gasoline, with taxes, was $1.51 Friday — down 12.8 cents since June 22, according to the Lundberg Survey of about 8,000 gas stations nationwide. Consumers are paying 16 cents a gallon less than a year ago and 25 cents less than the peak of $1.76 on May 18.

Honolulu had the highest average price in the nation at $1.91, while Tulsa, Okla., had the lowest at $1.16.

"After having been warned by jittery officials and consultants of a shortage, and $3 gasoline this summer — which never materialized — we see bargain prices," analyst Trilby Lundberg said in a statement yesterday.

"If crude oil prices don't rise, gasoline prices are likely to fall further, although at a slower pace."

The national weighted average price of gasoline, including taxes, at self-serve pumps Friday was $1.46 for regular unleaded, $1.57 for midgrade and $1.66 for premium.

Crude oil prices fell for a sixth straight session today on expectations that sluggish economic growth will reduce demand for fuel at a time when supplies are high.

As the number of workers applying for jobless benefits hit a nine-year high in a Labor Department report last week, fewer commuting workers might reduce demand for gasoline, analysts said.

"The disappointing economic forecasts in a well-supplied market are pushing prices lower," said John Kilduff, senior vice president of energy risk management at Fimat USA Inc. in New York. "There will be no sustained rise in prices until OPEC cuts production."

Crude oil for August delivery fell as much as 49 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $26.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are down 16 percent from a year ago.

Gasoline for August delivery fell as much as 0.71 cent today, to 72.7 cents a gallon on the Nymex. Futures, which represent wholesale prices, have fallen 38 percent from a record $1.175 a gallon on May 24.