Effective April 9-15, Hovensa increased the price retailers pay for regular grade gas by 5 cents to $3.68 per gallon and premium by 9 cents to $3.97, breaking the all-time high rack price record set last week.
Previously the all-time high was $3.57 for regular and $3.68 for premium, set the week of May 15, 2011.
Once the refinery stops providing fuel at end of June, the territory will have to procure gasoline from other sources, likely at higher prices than those from Hovensa.
Prices should not increase immediately at the pump as gas stations must first sell the gas they’ve already purchased at lower prices.
Hovensa’s wholesale rate does not include local gasoline taxes of 7 cents per gallon or retailer markup.
St. Croix retailers typically charge 40 to 50 cents above the wholesale rate, while retailers on St. Thomas typically charge roughly 50 cents more than St. Croix retailers.
After June, fuel on St. Croix will be procured in a similar fashion, from the same set of suppliers and shippers, as St. Thomas, which suggests, all other factors being equal, that the St. Croix price may start to more closely match that on St. Thomas.
At the pump, as of April 4, the cheapest regular unleaded gas on St. Croix cost $4.06 per gallon and the cheapest premium cost $4.16. On St. Thomas, the lowest pump prices are $4.59 and $4.79 per gallon for regular and premium, respectively.
The local gas price increases track similar increases nationwide and worldwide. Average U.S. prices at the pump for regular gasoline have steadily increase nearly every week, rising from $3.30 the first week of January to $3.94 as of April 2, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency.
