LIHU‘E — The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline eased last week, but stood firmly above the other three major islands, according to a AAA Hawai‘i Weekend Gas Watch on Thursday, May 30.
The average price weighed in at $5.25 per gallon on Thursday, compared with $5.26 per gallon on Thursday, May 23. The most recent average was 1 cent higher than the same period a year ago but well below the record high of $5.89 per gallon, which was set on June 20, 2022.
“Gas prices in Hawai‘i are slightly decreasing in a couple of areas, as nationwide prices continue to decrease,” said AAA Hawai‘i general manager Liane Sumida in a note that accompanied the latest report.
Elsewhere in the island chain, the lowest average price for a gallon of regular unleaded was found in Honolulu at $4.66, followed by Hilo at $4.90 and Kahului at $4.84. The statewide average for regular unleaded gas was $4.78 per gallon.
But those prices were miles above the nationwide average of $3.56 per gallon. Hawai‘i gas prices are typically well above the national average, in part because of infrastructure.
“Hawai‘i has no proved crude oil reserves or production, but it does refine crude oil into petroleum products,” states the U.S. Energy Information Administration in a profile analysis on the Hawaiian Island chain. “The state has one crude oil refinery, located in the Honolulu port area of O‘ahu, which can process about 94,000 barrels of crude oil per calendar day.”
That production level accounts for much of the demand for petroleum products in Hawai‘i, “but the state also imports refined petroleum products, including jet fuel, propane, low-sulfur diesel fuel, and motor gasoline, from countries in Asia, the Caribbean, and South America,” states the U.S. Energy Information Administration in the profile analysis.
“Suppliers offload crude oil into storage tanks in the O‘ahu refinery area through offshore mooring systems, and load refined products at Honolulu harbor terminals onto fuel barges for distribution to other islands. Hawai‘i has no inter-island pipelines, but there are pipeline systems on some islands that distribute petroleum products to customers.”
