At Least Gas Prices Are Lower

Aloha Kakou:

While the recent economic news continues to be terrible, the bright spot is downward spiral of the price of oil.

Last night on the way home, I noted that the price of gas in Lahaina had decreased to $4.35 a gallon. The greater Wailuku/Kahului metropolitan area always has some of the highest priced gasoline on the island, so imagine my surprise when I passed Uptown Chevron in Wailuku and saw that they too had priced a gallon of regular at $4.35. I almost stopped to fill my tank.

Of course, today, you see that the price of fuel in Lahaina has declined even further, to $4.33 a gallon for regular.

Gasoline in Hawaii does not follow the mainland trends because such a large percentage of the crude oil imported here comes from places like Indonesia, which provides just a small percentage of the Mainland's fuel.

I found this interesting diagram in the Star Bulletin that shows the progression of Hawaii's oil, from source to tank. Of course, they've conveniently left out the barges that bring the gasoline to the neighbor islands. And, if they had done any serious reporting, they'd be able to tell us why gasoline is more expensive in Wailuku/Kahului, where the port is, then it is when it's trucked all the way to the Lahaina side!

http://media.starbulletin.com/images/20080928_gas_full.jpg