AFTER a 20-cent rollback almost two weeks ago, Mobil Oil Marianas and Shell Marianas over the weekend raised their fuel prices.
The regular gas price went up to $6.01 a gallon from $5.86 a gallon; premium gas, to $6.46 a gallon from $6.31 a gallon; and diesel to $6.63 a gallon from $6.33 a gallon.
This fuel price increases are hurting fishermen and fish vendors a lot, said Carlita Salinas who has been selling fish on Saipan for almost 16 years now.
The fishermen, she said, have to spend more on gas because they’re also having a hard time finding a spot where they can catch fish.
Tuna for one, is difficult to catch these days, she added.
One fisherman she knows sailed on his boat around Saipan and caught only three tunas, she said.
“Imagine how much gasoline that boat consumed for the trip,” Salinas said, adding that tuna can be sold for $3 a pound.
“We’re losing business — fishermen, boat owners and vendors like me,” she said.
Ricardo de Guzman, a fisherman, said they spend $100 on gasoline — or more, depending on the kind of boat engine they have.
With the recent fuel price hikes, he said some of them may spend close to $200 on fuel for their fishing boats.
De Guzman said they can only get even or earn a little if they catch an abundance of fish which seldom happens these days.
As for consumers who buy canned fish, they, too, have to spend more, said Pete Dela Cruz, owner of Rota Merchandising.
The fuel price increases have so far resulted in a 30% increase in the price of Ligo sardines, he added.
Reuters on Friday reported that oil prices rose “as traders rushed to buy after a missile attack hit Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil company Aramco’s storage facility.”
Brent crude LCOc1 rose $1.20, or 0.7%, to $119.92 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was up $1.04, or 0.9%, to $113.34, Reuters said.
“We’re seeing unrest in Russia and Ukraine and now we’re seeing it once again over in Saudi and if we continue to see attacks on both areas, no one wants to be short oil right now,” Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial, told Reuters.
The Mobil station on Beach Road in Garapan displays its new prices on Friday morning.
