Effective April 30-May 6, Hovensa dramatically dropped the price retailers pay for gas by 19 cents to $3.37 per gallon for regular and $3.69 for premium, marking three weeks of price cutting from the all time high price record of $3.68 and $3.97 per gallon, set the week of April 9-15.
Gas prices fell 12 cents for regular and seven cents for premium the week of April 16, then held steady the following week, with the price of regular unchanged and premium dropping by two cents.
Over the same period, national prices also peaked then dropped off, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Since April 9, the average U.S. regular gasoline price at the pump has declined by roughly seven cents per gallon.
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. Wholesale prices and retailer profit margins may become more difficult to ascertain in the absence of Hovensa’s weekly update on its prices.
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.
