Posted at 12:04 p.m., Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Retail-wholesale gas price gap widens to 51 cents
Advertiser Staff
The gap between average prices for retail regular gasoline and wholesale regular gasoline rose to 51 cents a gallon on O'ahu during the week ended Aug. 19, the state Public Utilities Commission reported today.That was up from a gap of 46 cents a gallon the prior week. Lawmakers mandated the disclosure in hopes it will discourage unfair pricing, after the suspension of Hawai'i controversial gasoline price caps in May 2006.
The average retail price before taxes fell to $2.64 a gallon from $2.65 a gallon during the week ended Aug. 12. At the same time, the average wholesale price fell from $2.19 a gallon to $2.13.
The PUC's average wholesale price has been criticized as inaccurate and inflated because it combines different types of wholesale transactions into one price.
Under the program, oil companies must file monthly and weekly reports disclosing in some cases crude oil costs, wholesale prices, gross margins and other figures.
