AFTER a series of rollbacks over the last couple of months, Mobil Oil Marianas on Wednesday increased its gasoline prices by 15 cents. Shell is expected to follow suit.
Mobil’s regular gas price on Saipan went up to $5.26 a gallon from $5.11 a gallon while its premium gas price, which used to be $5.56 a gallon, now costs $5.71 a gallon.
Diesel is still $5.73 a gallon.
Tinian Fuel Services and Calvo Enterprises on Rota had not increased their prices. On Tinian, the regular gas price was still $6.89 a gallon and diesel was still $7.64 a gallon as of Wednesday afternoon.
On Rota, the regular gas price was still $6.59 a gallon and diesel was $9.64 a gallon.
Atoy Gomez, a repair man, said fuel price increases are not favorable to motorists like him.
But he said most of his clients pick him up at his residence if there’s a job he is tasked to do, and will drop him home after a day’s work.
Gomez said he only drives his truck for personal errands, usually on Saturdays. He said a gallon of gas is enough for him. But he also expects that if gas price hikes continue, they will have an impact on the prices of basic commodities.
Sharp gains
According to Reuters, “Crude oil prices edged up on Tuesday, extending sharp gains from the previous session on supply disruption risks from Iraqi Kurdistan and hopes that banking sector turmoil is contained.”
“The loss of this northern Iraq oil is a problem for the market, and I think it’s being underestimated,” John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital in New York, told Reuters.
Jim Ritterbusch of consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates said a weaker U.S. dollar, which makes oil less expensive for international buyers, also lifted crude prices.
Oil prices were expected to draw continued support from signs of recovering demand in China, Reuters said.
“China’s crude oil imports are expected to rise by 6.2% in 2023 to 540 million tons, an annual forecast by a research unit of China National Petroleum Corp showed on Monday.”
Mobil Oil Marianas in Chalan Kiya displays its new prices on Wednesday.
