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HomeNewsArchivesDLCA Urges Gas Stations to Pass On Gas Price Cuts

DLCA Urges Gas Stations to Pass On Gas Price Cuts

As the price of gasoline at Hovensa’s rack continues to drop, the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs is asking retail gas stations to pass on the savings of Hovensa’s price decreases to consumers at the pumps.

“Documentation is steadily received by the Department from retailers requesting approval of price increases, however the same cannot be said regarding price decreases,” said DLCA Commissioner Wayne Biggs in a statement Friday.

“In light of the persistent economic challenges that Virgin Islands residents are facing, there is undoubtedly a need for price decreases to be reflected at the gas pumps. Retail stations should not take advantage of consumers by continuing to maintain high prices despite publicized Hovensa price decreases. They need to have their prices at the pumps reflect the month long fuel price decreases. Retail stations which purchase a new fuel supply from Hovensa at a lower rate are expected to pass on the recent wholesale savings immediately, the same way they expeditiously do when there is an increase,” Biggs said.

For Oct. 29-Nov. 4, Hovensa reduced the price of regular by five cents to $3.34 and premium also by five cents to $3.54. With 14 cent per gallon fuel tax, but not counting the transportation cost of transporting the fuel from Hovensa, that comes to $3.48 for regular and $3.68 for premium. This follows several weeks of inconsistent but generally downward movement in prices.

DLCA’s most recent at-the-pump survey, completed Oct. 31 found the lowest prices on St. Croix for self service gasoline were $4.47 for premium at Supreme Service Station and $4.20 for regular at Lionel Service Center. That is 78 cents per gallon cents above the cost of premium fuel and tax at the rack, and 72 cents above the price, with tax for regular grade gasoline- prices that do not include the cost of transportation between the rack and the gas station.

On St. Thomas, the lowest prices for self service fuel was $4.48 for premium at Boynes Trucking and $4.48 for regular at Race Track and Giant GasStation- an unusual case where premium and regular had the same lowest price, but at different outlets. The price for regular is only a penny per gallon more than that on St. Croix, and for premium, the lowest price is a full 20 cents less than that on St. Croix, a sharp change from the historical tendency for St. Thomas prices to be considerably higher than St. Croix.

Prices at St. John’s only gas station, E&C Self Service Station, was $5.08 per gallon for premium, regular fuel $4.73 per gallon.

For comparison, Oct. 1 – 7, Hovensa’s rack rate for regular was $3.45 with tax, and premium was $3.89, including fuel tax. DLCA’s survey of prices at the pump found the lowest price for self-serve regular gasoline on St. Croix was $4.20 per gallon for regular and $4.49 for premium- or 75 cents more than rack price, with tax for regular and 60 cents more for premium. On St. Thomas, the lowest prices were $4.82 per gallon for regular and $5.14 for premium gasoline. The St. John gas station has regular at $4.73 per gallon and premium at $5.20.

The all-time high for Hovensa’s rack rate: $3.68 per gallon of regular and $3.97 for premium, was set the week of April 9-15.

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