Hawai'i gas prices remain steady
Advertiser News Services
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.
Advertiser library photo • Dec. 2000
Nationwide, gas prices are 25 cents a gallon less than at their peak earlier this year, according to a widely quoted survey.
Despite declines on the Mainland, gas prices in Hawai‘i remain near $2 a gallon. Honolulu has the highest average gas prices of any city in the country at $1.91 per gallon, 45 cents per gallon higher than the national average.
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 yesterday on expectations that sluggish economic growth will reduce demand for fuel at a time when supplies are high.
Crude oil for August delivery fell as much as 49 cents yesterday, or 1.8 percent, to $26.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are down 16 percent from a year ago.
