Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The average price of gasoline on island is $3.38 per gallon while diesel fuel is $3.76 per gallon, according to data released by the ASG Office of Petroleum Management following a survey yesterday of nine gas stations on Tutuila.

OPM had released last Monday, Jan. 14th, the new maximum allowable price (MAP) or wholesale price, effective Jan. 15-31, 2019. The MAP showed a decrease of 12-cents for gasoline as well as all diesel fuel products. (See Samoa News Jan. 15th edition for details).

OPM continues to remind local residents that they don’t have control of the gas stations, as owners set the retail price while ASG/OPM set the MAP.

According to the survey, a gas station in Pava'ia'i offers the lowest price at $3.36 per gallon for gasoline but it does not sell diesel. Six gas stations have their price set at $3.37 per gallon for gasoline but offer prices — between $3.75 and $3.79 per gallon — for diesel.

A gas station in the town area is selling gasoline at $3.40 per gallon and $3.75 for diesel, while a gas station in the Tafuna area is selling gasoline at $3.46 per gallon with a lower diesel price of $3.66 per gallon.

OPM notes that the difference between the MAP and the price at the gas stations continues to grow since 2017.

“From an average of 45-cents per gallon in 2017, 47-cents per gallon in 2018 to over 55-cents per gallon at the beginning of 2019,” according to the OPM report.

In the US, the average price for gasoline is $2.33 per gallon and $2.97 for diesel, while in Honolulu it is $3.19 for gasoline and $4.39 for diesel — as of yesterday, according to OPM data

OPM also released a price comparison in the region as of yesterday in US currency — based on yesterday’s exchange rate. In Fiji — US$4.19 for gasoline and US$3.79 for diesel; Samoa — US$4.18 for gasoline and US$4.53 for diesel; and in Tonga — US$4.60 for gasoline and US$4.92 for diesel.