HOVENSA adds 4 cents to price for a gallon of regular gas
Published: September 17, 2012
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ST. CROIX - The wholesale price of gasoline in the territory inched upward this week as HOVENSA made its weekly rack rate adjustments today.
Today's change to the rack rate - the price of fuel purchased wholesale, directly from HOVENSA's truck-loading station - raised the price of regular gasoline by 4 cents per gallon and raised the price of premium gasoline by 2 cents per gallon. The rack rate for diesel fuel did not change.
Under today's adjustments, independent gas station operators in the territory now are paying $3.60 per gallon for regular gasoline, $4 per gallon for premium gasoline and $3.68 per gallon for diesel fuel when they buy their fuel wholesale at HOVENSA. Those prices include the 14-cents-per-gallon tax that the refinery collects for the government.
Although HOVENSA ceased refining operations in February, it is continuing to provide wholesale gasoline at its truck loading station on St. Croix for retailers in the territory until Dec. 31.
The rack rates influence retail gasoline prices in the territory because independent gas station operators can buy their gasoline at the loading station, then resell it to their customers.
HOVENSA sets its rack rates based on the previous week's market conditions. The new rates are effective through Sunday.
On the retail side, the average price for gasoline continued to climb in the territory.
On St. Croix, the average retail price of regular, self-serve gasoline on Thursday was $4.293, an increase of more than 9 cents from a week earlier, according to V.I. Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs surveys.
According to the survey, the average retail price for self-serve premium gas was $4.585 on Thursday, more than 13 cents higher than it was the previous week. The average price for diesel fuel was $4.31, according to the survey.
On St. Thomas, average retail gasoline prices on Thursday were $4.77 per gallon for regular, $5.02 per gallon for premium, and $4.933 for diesel fuel, according to DLCA. Those prices are also increases..
On St. John, retail gas prices were $4.889 per gallon for regular gasoline, up 23 cents from the week before; and $5.179 for premium gasoline, up 24 cents, according to DLCA surveys. Diesel fuel went down by 2 cents over the same time period, to $4.919 per gallon on St. John.
On the U.S. mainland, the average retail price for regular gasoline nationwide on Thursday was $3.871 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association's Daily Fuel Gauge Report.
For premium gasoline, the average U.S. retail price on Thursday was $4.154 per gallon, and for diesel fuel, the average retail price in the United States on Thursday was $4.123 per gallon, according to AAA.
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