Local retail price of gasoline rising and looking to keep going up and up

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The cost of crude oil is rising globally; so is the average retail price of gasoline and diesel fuel in American Samoa. And motorists are wondering if there is any relief soon, in petroleum prices in the territory.

“It appears that it will get higher before we get a break,” said ASG Office of Petroleum Management (OPM) petroleum officer Sione Kava, who added that “all of it is something we cannot do much about.”

Kava’s comments came this week with the release of the American Samoa Fuel Price Report for May/June, 2018, which shows that the current average retail price for gasoline is $3.55 per gallon while diesel is $3.71 per gallon. (Samoa News visited two gas stations over the weekend where gasoline was priced at $3.57 and $3.59).

The fuel price report also shows that the new maximum allowable price (MAP), or wholesale price, effective June 15, will increase for all petroleum products sold in the territory.

For gasoline, the new MAP is $3.0530 per gallon, an increase of 13-cents. For diesel products, road diesel is at $3.2333 a gallon. Boilers and generators are at $2.9183 per gallon — an increase of 18-cents per gallon.

The report also provided regional comparison for gasoline prices. For example, average in the US is $2.95; Honolulu is at $3.71; Fiji is selling at US$3.94 and Tonga is at US$5.28

Data from Samoa was not available in the report.

OTHER PRODUCTS

The new MAP for other petroleum products shows:

•     diesel fuel for commercial fishing vessel is $2.7699 per gallon while other marine diesel is $2.8049 per gallon - an increase of 18-cents per gallon

•     Ultra-low sulfur for road diesel is going for $3.2739 per gallon while diesel for boilers/generators is at $2.9589 per gallon - an increase of 17-cents per gallon.

•     Jet fuel stands at $3.0078 per gallon and kerosene is being sold at $3.0328 per gallon - both products increased by 18-cents per gallon.

OTHER DETAILS

According to OPM, the “cost of crude oil is rising”, and OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) “supply reduction is still in effect while the demand for transportation fuel is rising as we approach the summer driving season in the US.”

Based on global market information, OPM said crude oil also jumped with the US withdrawal from the Iranian Nuclear Deal and the re-imposition of sanctions.       Additionally, Platts’ Tankerwire (a global tanker freight report) also shows an increase in the cost of transporting fuel to the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICT).

For American Samoa, OPM notes that transportation cost increased by $37 per metric ton.

Therefore, the MAP “increased and the upward cost movement is expected to continue,” said OPM, which also explained that the Base and the Transportation cost makes for over 63% of the MAP on diesel, and 61% of the MAP for gasoline and jet fuel sold on island.

“These costs are determined by the global market [while] American Samoa and the rest of the region...have very little to do with it,” it says.

Regarding pricing of local petroleum products, ASG/OPM notes that it has control over the MAP, which is the price (with discounts maybe) that the gas stations are paying the suppliers (Pacific Energy and/or Sunrise Oil) for fuel to their gas stations, according to the report.

However, ASG/OPM has no control over the retail price at the pumps as it’s determined by the owners.