Gas prices for June 6-12 remain volatile on St. Croix, with Hovensa hiking its truck rack rate 5 cents, to $3.24 per gallon for regular; and 4 cents, to $3.34 for premium.
The slight uptick comes as an unwelcome shift in direction after several declines. A week earlier, Hovensa dropped the price 12 cents for regular and 16 cents for premium. And the week before that Hovensa’s prices dropped sharply over the prior week: 33 cents for regular and 25 cents for premium.
The local pattern is a little out of sync with national trends. Hovensa’s rack rate dropped dramatically early in May (as prices rose slightly nationwide), and is now rising slightly as nationwide retail averages fall a little.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, regular-grade retail gas prices nationwide rose slightly in the first two weeks of May, averaging about $3.96 per gallon for regular—about 8 cents more than two weeks earlier—as refinery outages and distribution disruptions from Mississippi River flooding temporarily outweighed the impact of lower crude oil prices.
By the end of May, national prices had dropped to late-April levels, with an average May price of $3.91 per gallon of regular.
The retail price is higher than the rack rate charged by suppliers to retailers, but the two metrics trend together.
EIA expects the May average will be the peak monthly average price this driving season, forecasting prices for regular to average $3.75 per gallon.
