Big Island Fuel Averages See Slight Dip

Fuel prices in Hilo and Kona saw a marginal decrease this week as gas on each side of the island saw a dip.

As November revs up, gas costs have already begun to shake off the leveled-off numbers from September and October following a summer of huge decreases.

Big Island Now continues to crunch the numbers using AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report and Gas Buddy Data to track Big Island Fuel prices.

In Hilo, fuel prices dropped by just one cent across the board last week. However, during the second week in November, Hilo is seeing average regular fuel prices at $2.76, a four-cent decrease over the past week. Mid-grade fuel dropped from $2.91 to $2.83, an eight-cent decrease, while premium gasoline was averaging $2.98 Monday, a six-cent decrease compared to last week’s numbers.

After going through a week where AAA’s report showed fuel prices higher than their previous month’s counterpart, Hilo fuel prices are seeing the opposite this week. Compared to one month ago, regular fuel averages are six cents cheaper, while mid-grade and premium fuel are nine cents lower this week.

Average fuel prices, compared to the same time period in November 2014, are still down by more than one dollar. In 2014, regular fuel cost an average of $3.93. Mid-grade fuel was just under $1.20 more at $4.01 and premium fuel was an average of $4.14, $1.16 more than its current cost.

Gas in Kailua-Kona is once again feeling Hilo’s trends as fuel prices saw a dip over the past week.

Big Island Now’s calculation of Gas Buddy data from Kailua-Kona shows that regular fuel was an average of $3.02 Tuesday, three cents less than what was reported last week. Mid-grade gasoline was an average of $3.13, a two-cent decrease compared to last week’s numbers. Premium fuel saw another three-cent decrease over the past week with an average gas price of $3.21.

In Honolulu, the average price of regular fuel costs five cents less than Hilo’s average and 31 cents less than Kailua-Kona’s average regular fuel price. Oahu fuel buyers were paying $2.71 for regular fuel Tuesday, a one-cent decrease compared to last week.

Diesel buyers in Hilo were paying an average of $4.15 on Tuesday, while Honolulu diesel buyers were paying $4.39.

The national average for regular fuel on Monday was $2.21, a two-cent increase compared to last week. The national average is 55 cents less than Hilo’s average this week and 81 cents less than Kailua-Kona’s prices.

“Motorists were hit with rising gas prices in 33 of the nation’s 50 states, catching up with recent increases in crude oil prices, while the Midwest, stung from increases from the previous week, saw relief,” said Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst.

“While we’ll see lower gasoline prices to return to much of the country in the weeks ahead, these types of isolated blips in gasoline prices do occasionally happen during times when crude oil prices are volatile,” DeHann said. “With recent Fed comments about raising interest rates propelling markets, don’t be surprised if we see occasional small gas prices increases followed by decreases, leading to a lower gasoline prices in time for the holidays,” DeHaan said.

Club member-only prices, such as Costco and HFN, are excluded from this analysis and its averages.