Isle gas prices at all-time high

Just a month ago, it cost 35 cents less a gallon for regular, self-serve

Hawaii consumers can expect to pay even more at the gas pump this weekend.

Gas prices reached records in the state this week, with the statewide average increasing 7 cents to an all-time high of $4.24 for regular self-serve unleaded, according to the AAA Hawaii Weekend Gas Watch.

A month ago, the statewide average was at $3.89 (35 cents less), according to AAA, and a year ago it was only $3.41 (83 cents less).

Yesterday's average price in Honolulu was $4.15 per gallon for unleaded, another record price that is 9 cents higher than last week, 36 cents more than last month, and 83 cents higher than this time last year.

In Hilo, the average price yesterday was a record $4.27 a gallon, which is 12 cents higher than last week, 36 cents above last month, and 78 cents higher than last year.

The average price in Wailuku, meanwhile, reached a record $4.52 a gallon, up 3 cents over last week, 34 cents more than last month, and 82 cents higher than last year.

"In Hawaii and across the U.S., prices have continued skyrocketing to new levels and now more than half of the country has prices above $4 a gallon," said AAA Hawaii regional manager Richard Velazquez.

He said Wailuku typically has the highest gas prices of any area in the U.S., although right now its prices are still less expensive than those in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.

The national average for regular unleaded was $4.07 a gallon, according to AAA, 31 cents more than last month, and an entire $1.02 more than a year ago.

The jack-up in pump prices has been propelled by continuing high crude oil prices.

AAA Hawaii Weekend Gas Watch offers week-to-week price comparisons, which are derived from fleet vehicle credit-card transactions at 85,000 stations around the U.S. including Hawaii.

Prices shown are combined averages of the last card swipe of the previous day.