MOBIL Oil Marianas and Shell Marianas raised their fuel prices on Thursday and Friday.
The regular gas price went up to $4.20 a gallon from $4.08 a gallon; Mobil’s premium gas price climbed to $4.65 a gallon from $4.53 a gallon; while the price of diesel rose to $4.38 a gallon from $4.26 a gallon.
Mobil Oil Marianas in Susupe displays its new fuel prices on Thursday.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
Rep. Roy Ada, who spends between $50 and $100 worth of gas every two weeks depending on the tasks he has to perform, said, “We can’t control gas prices.”
But, he added, “one of the things we can do is build a fuel farm on Saipan so once the prices in the world market for example is down, that is when we can store fuel.”
He noted that residents also buy gasoline for their lawn mowers, blowers or brush cutters “because here on Saipan, we take care of our property.”
He said gas price increases “hurt and affect people’s finances deeply.”
Amid the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 global pandemic, Ada said people “have to save money not only for gas but for everything else.”
Agence France-Presse in a report on Friday said, “Prices at the pump have risen since January 2021. Experts attribute this to a gradual recovery from very low crude oil costs during the downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.” Prices are “now headed upward because of an anticipated rebound in demand.”
