OPM: Gasoline price up by 7¢ per gallon

The new maximum allowable price (MAP) or wholesale price released today by the ASG Office of Petroleum Management (OPM), will see a slight hike in all petroleum products sold in the territory with gasoline the highest at seven cents increase per gallon, according to data released yesterday by OPM.

The data shows that effective today, the new MAP for gasoline is $3.76 per gallon — a seven cent hike from the previous MAP released on Jan. 1 this year. OPM will be conducting soon a survey of local gas stations to get an average price for the territory under the new MAP.

For jet fuel and kerosene, the new MAP is about $3.77 per gallon, an increase of three cents per gallon, according to OPM data provided by petroleum officer Sione Kava.

For diesel products — road diesel is $3.99 per gallon; boilers/generators (used by the Tafuna Power plant) at $3.67 per gallon; commercial fishing vessel diesel at $3.54 per gallon and other marine diesel at $3.59 — an overall increase of 2 cents.

According to OPM there is will be a one-cent per gallon hike for the Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD), which is used for the eleven generators at the American Samoa Power Authority’s temporary power generation system (TPGS) in Satala, and the ULSD road diesel used by Education Department school buses.

Kava explained that crude oil remained between $107 a barrel and $111 a barrel with the December monthly average at $109.63 a barrel, an increase of almost 39 cents a barrel from the previous month. “As a result, local product prices for January remain high,” he said.

He also pointed out that worldwide crude prices remain high due to increase demand from the US, rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and a jump in demand from India. 

Additionally, holiday travels pushed fuel consumption as well as demand for heating fuel during the winter months.

“We expect a slight drop in this demand due to continued economic down turn. This could mean a drop in product prices on the MAP, however the rise in the cost of transportation — oil tanker rates — would result in a slight increase or no changes to the fuel prices,” Kava said yesterday.

The next MAP is released on Feb 1.