HOVENSA raises price of regular gas
Published: October 8, 2012
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ST. CROIX - The wholesale price of regular gasoline in the territory shot up, while the wholesale price of premium slipped down, 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 10 cents per gallon and lowered the price of premium gasoline by 6 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 $3.55 per gallon for regular gasoline, $3.82 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. The new rates are effective through Sunday.
On the retail side, the average price of gasoline on each of the territory's islands far outpaced the national average.
The average retail price for regular gasoline nationwide on Thursday was $3.789 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association's Daily Fuel Gauge Report.
In the territory, the average retail price for self-serve regular gasoline on Thursday was $4.288 on St. Croix and $4.718 on St. Thomas, according to a V.I. Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs gas price survey. On Friday, the price for a gallon of regular gasoline on St. John was $4.739, according to the DLCA.
The average retail prices on St. Thomas and St. John far exceed the average retail price for regular gas in each of the 50 states individually and the District of Columbia, according to information from AAA.
And only two states - California at $4.486 per gallon and Hawaii at $4.414 per gallon - had average retail prices for regular gasoline that topped the average retail price on St. Croix, according to information from AAA.
For premium gasoline, the average U.S. retail price on Thursday was $4.105 per gallon, and for diesel fuel, the average retail price in the United States on Thursday was $4.083 per gallon, according to AAA.
For premium gasoline, the average retail price was $4.583 per gallon on St. Croix, $4.968 on St. Thomas and $5.209 on St. John. Average diesel prices were $4.326 on St. Croix, $4.933 on St. Thomas and $4.889 on St. John, according to the DLCA.
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