BARELY two weeks after the previous hike, Mobil Oil Marianas raised its fuel prices again on Monday.
The Mobil Oil Marianas service station in Chalan Kiya displays its new fuel prices on Monday.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
From $4.30 a gallon, the regular gas price is now $4.40 a gallon.
Mobil’s premium gas price went up to $4.85 a gallon from $4.75 a gallon while the diesel price went up to $4.58 a gallon from $4.48 a gallon.
Shell Marianas is expected to follow suit.
On Tinian, Mayor Edwin Aldan said the only gas station there has raised its price to $6.12 a gallon.
He said changes in gas prices in the world market are beyond the control of the local government.
But he believes there should be a way to cushion the impact of gas price hikes without “sacrificing” other important commodities and services.
Gas prices on Tinian are always higher than Saipan’s because of shipping cost, he said.
In a separate interview, Dexter Merjilla, a private sector employee, said no matter how many times the gas price increases, there is no way to cut the use of gas.
He said people need to travel every day from home to work and back.
“We can’t cut down on our necessary travels just because the gas price went up,” he said, adding that perhaps people can reduce their expenses in some other things, like food for example.
CNN Business reported on Sunday that “OPEC and Russia’s unprecedented production cuts last spring lifted oil prices out of a death spiral.”
U.S. crude oil has now “raced back above $60 a barrel…. Prices at the pump are starting to creep higher, too.” Moreover, “investors are betting the pandemic will soon be under control — and that in turn will unleash pent-up demand for road trips, cruises, flights and other oil-consuming activities.”
