Gasoline Prices Low and Going Lower, Analysts Say

Gasoline prices are as low as they’ve been in four years and should go lower this fall, said a nationwide energy cost-analysis firm.

GasBuddy.com said cheaper global and domestic crude oil prices have cut costs for North American refiners even as violence and unrest in the Middle East heightens and uncertainty grows over long-term Russian energy supplies.

The GasBuddy survey lists the Safeway in Hilo as having the cheapest gasoline prices in the state — $3.91 for a gallon of regular, the only price less than $4.00. Tesoro on Kamehameha Avenue at Ponahawai was listed second in Hilo at $4.05. The Tesoro station at 74-5590B Palani Road near Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway was the cheapest reported price in Kailua-Kona.

The survey relies on “reporters” who call in to earn points for free gas. On Wednesday, Aug. 27, seven of the 15 lowest reported prices in Hawai’i were in Hilo.

In March 2012, the average price of a gallon of regular gas in Hilo was at a record high of $4.66, said the AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report. The average price this week in Hilo is $4.11, AAA reported.

A $9 drop in the price of crude oil futures and high refinery output this summer have led to a 26-cent drop in the national average price since Memorial Day, GasBuddy said.

“Prices should stabilize in the next three weeks, but then give way to hefty decreases in the second half of September and all of October,” said GasBuddy analyst Tom Kloza.

Violence in oil-producing countries is always a threat but the U.S. will benefit from what is still a clear boom in U.S. crude-oil production, with output expected eventually to exceed its peak in 1972, GasBuddy said,