The Mobil Oil station on Beach Road in Susupe displays its fuel prices on Thursday.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
AFTER a series of rollbacks in May, gasoline prices went up for the first time this month.
Mobil Oil on Saipan increased its regular gasoline price to $5.16 a gallon from $5.06 a gallon; and the premium gasoline price to $5.61 a gallon from $5.51 a gallon. The diesel price is still $5.28 a gallon.
Shell Marianas is expected to follow suit.
On Tinian, the price of Tinian Fuel Services’ regular gasoline as of Thursday was $7.019 a gallon while the diesel price was $7.399 a gallon.
On Rota, the price of Calvo Enterprises’ regular gasoline was $6.44 a gallon and the diesel price was $9.22 a gallon.
Rudy Francisco, who works in the private sector, said he rarely buys enough gasoline to fill his car’s tank. He added that he can only afford to buy $10 worth of gas each time he refuels.
“It is difficult nowadays, especially for those whose work hours have been reduced, to cope with the rising cost of living — including gas. Now that gas prices have gone up again, things will get worse,” he said.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that oil prices rose more than 4% “to their highest in more than two months, after sources said the U.S. was preparing to evacuate its Iraqi embassy due to heightened security concerns in the Middle East.”
“The market wasn’t expecting this big geopolitical risk,” Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group, told Reuters.
Earlier, Reuters added, Iran’s Minister of Defense Aziz Nasirzadeh said Tehran will strike U.S. bases in the region if nuclear talks fail and conflict arises with Washington.
President Donald J. Trump said he was less confident that Iran would agree to stop uranium enrichment in a nuclear deal with Washington, according to an interview released on Wednesday.
