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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, July 17, 2001

Hawai'i gas prices remain steady

 •  Chart: Pump prices drop

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.

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.

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.

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.