ABOUT a week after the last price hike, Shell Marianas and Mobil Oil Marianas on Wednesday and Thursday increased their fuel prices by 10 cents.
The regular gas price went up to $5.36 a gallon from $5.26 a gallon; the premium gas price to $5.81 a gallon from $5.71 a gallon; and diesel to $5.63 a gallon from $5.53 a gallon.
Following last week’s price hike, Tinian Fuel Services increased its regular gas price to $7.07 a gallon from $6.89 a gallon, but its diesel price was still $7.35 a gallon.
Calvo Enterprise on Rota increased its regular gasoline price to $6.74 a gallon from $6.59 a gallon while its diesel price rose to $9.62 a gallon from $9.52 a gallon.
Saipan taxi driver Sukesh Barman said their livelihood is heavily affected by fuel price increases. The rising cost of fuel is taking a direct toll on their income, he added.
He noted that some passengers complain about the taxi fare, “but they really don’t understand our own problem.”
Despite the recent gas price increases, he said, taxi drivers have not raised their fares. This means that their income will go down as they have to spend more money on fuel, he added.
According to Reuters, oil prices “rose to three-month highs on Tuesday, as signs of tighter supplies and pledges by Chinese authorities to shore up the world’s second-biggest economy lifted sentiment.”
Reuters said the “crude benchmarks have already clinched four weekly gains in a row, with supplies expected to tighten due to output cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies.”
“The market is getting more concerned about the trend of tightening oil supplies, and it’s becoming more obvious to the naysayers that the expected drop-off in demand isn’t happening,” Price Futures Group analyst Phil Flynn told Reuters.
Mobil Oil Marianas on Beach Road in Garapan displays its prices on Thursday.
