Gas prices steady
Mainland gas prices have dropped 22 cents a gallon since March, and crude oil costs are down, but Hawaii gas prices haven't budged from record territory, according to the latest survey by AAA.The average Honolulu price at the pump recently was $1.968 a gallon for regular unleaded, mostly unchanged from the record $1.985 a gallon set in mid-April. Hawaii gas prices have been at a near-record since mid-March, though prices vary at individual gas stations. At the Costco pumps in Waipio, the price was $1.87 a gallon on Sunday.
Neighbor island pump prices are also in record territory, with Wailuku, Maui, at $2.269 on average, and Hilo on the Big Island at $2.143.
Meanwhile, the average national price has fallen below $1.50 a gallon from a record $1.722 in mid-March, a drop of 13 percent, according to AAA.
The price of crude oil, a major factor in determining what it costs the oil companies to make gasoline, has also fallen. After the onset of war, the market price of Indonesian minas, a type commonly used in Hawaii, dropped to less than $26 a barrel from the pre-war level of over $32 a barrel. The price of Minas has increased slightly since, and closed yesterday at $27.31 a barrel, an 18 percent decrease from $33.29 three months ago, according to Bloomberg News.
In the past decade, island gas prices have been slow to fall when mainland prices have dropped. The state has sued the oil companies over allegations of a price-fixing conspiracy, but the state settled the case for a relatively small payment, and the companies denied wrongdoing.
A big problem with Hawaii's gas market is a lack of competition, experts have said.
In the wake of the dropped antitrust lawsuit, Democrats in the state Legislature passed a law that would cap gas prices starting in July 2004, though Republican Gov. Linda Lingle has opposed the measure.
If the gas price cap were in effect now, the maximum price of gas on Oahu would be roughly $1.83 a gallon, said David Hackett, president of California-based Stillwater Associates. That's about 14 cents less than the current average Honolulu price. The price cap would be calculated weekly using West Coast prices.
The state hired Stillwater to study the two local refineries, owned by Chevron and Tesoro, and to come up with solutions for Hawaii's high gas prices. Stillwater's final report is being reviewed by the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism and hasn't been released.
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Prices at the pump
Honolulu
Regular gasoline Current $1.968 Month ago $1.976 Year ago $1.602 Highest recorded price $1.985 on April 16 Wailuku
Regular gasoline Current $2.269 Month ago $2.279 Year ago $1.759 Highest recorded price $2.299 on March 26 Hilo
Regular gasoline Current $2.143 Month ago $2.059 Year ago $1.827 Highest recorded price $2.299 on July 3, 2001 Source: AAA