MOBIL Oil and Shell have raised the pump prices of their gasoline products by 3 cents to 5 cents per gallon.
Since the middle of March, the pump costs of gasoline products on Saipan have increased by 11 cents.
Mobil’s price hike began yesterday, while Shell’s will take effect today.
Andrew Harford, Shell North Pacific president, yesterday said the worsening crisis in the Middle East as well as the worldwide increase in demand for petroleum resulted in higher fuel prices. (See related story in Business & Trade section)
“We’ve been holding off a pump price increase, but the costs in the Singapore regional market kept on going up since February. The current cost of crude oil per barrel is too expensive for us,” Harford told Variety.
Bernadette Valencia, Mobil retail manager, said “the world and regional gasoline prices have significantly increased and have impacted (Mobil’s) landed costs, contributing to the increase in local gasoline prices.”
“The increase is a result of continued higher product cost due to higher prices of petroleum products from the Singapore regional market,” Valencia told Variety.
Regular unleaded gasoline at Mobil and Shell stations now costs $2.059 per gallon.
This is an increase of 5 cents from the previous price of $2.009.
Super or premium unleaded gasoline is now $2.149 per gallon, up by 5 cents from the previous $2.099 per gallon cost. Diesel gasoline price at Mobil and Shell also increased by 3 cents, or from $2.079 per gallon to $2.109 per gallon.
This is the third round of oil price increases in the CNMI since the middle of March.
“Mobil will continue to seek avenues through operating initiatives to reduce the impact of the regional price increases, especially during this difficult economic period,” said Valencia.
Independent oil retailers also raised their prices, but they are still less expensive than the prices offered by stations directly operated by Mobil.
