HOVENSA lowers price of regular gasoline
Published: September 10, 2012
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ST. CROIX - The wholesale price of regular gasoline in the territory dropped a little 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 - lowered the price of regular gasoline by 9 cents per gallon and raised the price of premium gasoline by 4 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 $3.56 per gallon for regular gasoline, $3.98 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 regular, self-serve gasoline exceeded $4 per gallon on St. Croix last week, an increase of more than 21 cents per gallon from a week before, according to a V.I. Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs surveys.
According to the survey, average retail gas prices for self-serve regular were $4.201 per gallon on St. Croix Thursday, compared with $3.989 a week earlier.
The average retail price for premium gasoline on St. Croix Thursday was $4.451, and the average price for diesel fuel was $4.293, according to the survey.
On St. Thomas, average retail gasoline prices on Thursday were $4.68 per gallon for regular, $4.92 per gallon for premium, and $4.919 for diesel fuel, according to DLCA.
On St. John, retail gas prices were $4.659 per gallon for regular gasoline and $4.939 for premium gasoline and diesel fuel, according to the DLCA survey.
On the U.S. mainland, average retail price for regular gasoline in the United States on Thursday was $3.822 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 $4.109 per gallon, and for diesel fuel, the average retail price in the United States on Thursday was $4.113 per gallon, according to AAA.
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