Consumers rejoiced over the news but remain wary over the future.
“Everybody’s being affected [by the high fuel prices]. It’s good that it’s going down. We’re having hard times here,” said a local mother of three who declined to be identified.
She said the high gas price was one of her major considerations in transferring her school-age daughter to a public school even though the private school where she used to be enrolled lowered its tuition by $10 a month.
She said their average gas expense every week was $80 and the public school nearby will help ease this expense as commuting is easier and free school bus is an option.
“Gas prices are unstable. Today’s it’s down but we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future,” she told Variety.
Classes in public schools will start next month.
Many parents who don’t rely on the school bus program are worried that the high gas price will put a dent on their meager budgets.
A father who also requested anonymity said whatever savings they can get will only go to their budget for food.
“This is good. We could use the savings for our food budget,” he said.
Food prices in the Northern Marianas have increased as importers passed on to consumers the extra money they paid for shipping the goods here.
Regular gas was sold on Saipan at $5.05 a gallon last week. Tinian and Rota had higher prices because of their remote locations.
On Saturday, Mobil dropped its gas prices to $4.87 a gallon and to $4.77 on Wednesday night.
Shell has lowered its gas prices since Saturday and further dropped it to $4.67 a gallon yesterday.
Mobil gas attendants said they expect to follow Shell’s new pump prices anytime soon.
“We have to follow the price of our competitor. There’s really no competition on pricing because people will go where they pay less,” one of them said.
The CNMI imports its fuel supply from Singapore.
