Sept. 19, 2006 The price of crude oil is down, Hovensa cut its prices and gas stations on St. Croix have considerably lowered theirs. However, that's not the case on St. Thomas and St. John, Licensing Commissioner Andrew Rutnik said Monday.
"Its shocking to me to see no reduction," he said.
Leroy Gottlieb at Gottliebs Esso on St. Thomas said Tuesday he bought fuel Monday but saw no decrease in the wholesale price. He said he anticipated that prices will eventually fall.
Errol Rogers, manager at the Texaco Airport gas station, said hes anticipating a reduction of 50 cents for both premium and regular gas this week, but didnt have a date.
No one could be reached at Esso, Texaco or Domino for information on wholesale gas pricing.
Rutnik forwarded a survey done on all three islands that compared retail prices on Sept. 8 and about a week later. The price for regular gas on St. Croix fell by an average of 42 cents. Premium was down an average of 60 cents and diesel, 10 cents.
St. Thomas gas stations showed no change, but prices at one gas station on St. John, E&C, went up slightly between Sept. 8 and Sept. 15. Prices at Domino in Coral Bay remained the same, and the Texaco station in Cruz Bay was closed Sept. 8, so no comparison could be made.
St. John also showed the highest prices in the territory, with regular topping out at $4.15 per gallon and $3.83 for regular at the Texaco. Diesel was highest –$3.94 per gallon at E&C.
Prices were lowest on St. Croix, with regular averaging $2.58 for the islands 29 open gas stations; meanwhile premium averaged $2.69 for the 29 stations. Of the 13 stations that sell diesel, the average price was $3.04.
Across the country, gas prices continue to drop. The Energy Information Administration, an arm of the U.S. Energy Department, reported Monday that the average price of regular was roughly $2.50, down 12.1 cents from a week ago. Diesel ran $2.71, a drop of 14.4 cents from a week ago. The agency did not give an average price for premium gas.
Rutnik said that most gas stations across the territory buy from Hovensa, either directly or through a wholesaler.
He forwarded a letter from Hovensa that indicated on Sept. 8 its price of regular gasoline went down by 50.5 cents. The price of premium fell by 63 cents and the cost of diesel dropped by 14 cents.
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