Posted on: Monday, September 27, 2004

Isle's gas prices remain highest

Advertiser Staff

LOS ANGELES — Honolulu's gas prices remain the highest among major markets in the United States as gas prices increased nationwide, largely because of problems related to Hurricane Ivan, an industry analyst said yesterday.

For Sept. 10 through Friday, the combined national average for all grades of gas hit $1.94 a gallon, up about 5 cents from the previous two weeks.

"Most of this is hurricane-related," said Trilby Lundberg, who publishes the semimonthly Lundberg Survey. "There was damage in the Gulf of Mexico to petroleum facilities, but there were also shutdowns in fear of damage. There were also delays of shipments of oil and refined products."

Honolulu had the highest gas prices among the cities surveyed at $2.26 for self-serve regular.