Posted on: Monday, June 28, 2004

Hawai'i gas barely budges as prices fall across nation

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Average gas prices nationwide have dropped 13 cents a gallon in the past four weeks, surveys show. In Honolulu, the average price has only fallen a penny and a half from the peak a month ago.

The weighted national average price for all three grades of gasoline fell 6.6 cents to $1.97 per gallon Friday, said analyst Trilby Lundberg, who publishes the semimonthly Lundberg Survey. The survey regularly polls almost 8,000 gas stations across the United States.

The previous Lundberg survey showed a 6›-cent drop in that two-week period. When combined, the two surveys showed a drop of 13 cents in four weeks. The latest survey showed that the biggest-selling gas, self-serve regular, averaged $1.94 a gallon nationwide.

AAA reported Friday that the average price for a gallon of regular was $2.24 in Honolulu. The peak price was $2.254, recorded May 28, according to AAA's Web site, www.fuelgaugereport.com.

The average Honolulu price for diesel fuel reported Thursday by AAA was $2.299, a record.

Lundberg said the recent price drop nationally was due in part to lower crude oil prices and to the completion of U.S. refinery maintenance projects undertaken to prepare for summer demand.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil futures set for August delivery ended trading at $37.55 a barrel Friday, down from $38.45 a barrel two weeks earlier.