Gas Prices Predicted to Climb Though Labor Day

With fuel prices predicted to keep increasing through Labor Day weekend, Licensing and Consumer Affairs officials said that conserving on gas, scaling back larger expenses like buying a car, and shopping local could help offset the cost to residents’ wallets.

Within the territory, major increases in gas prices were seen Wednesday, with residents gathering Tuesday after work to grab that last full tank. While St. Croix has stayed under the $5 per gallon mark, prices on St. John increased to a little more than $5.50, and $5.99 per gallon on St. Thomas. Licensing and Consumer Affairs, which keeps track of fuel prices within the territory, had listed just the week prior a low of under $5 on St. John and St. Thomas and under $4 on St. Croix.

Nationally, Wednesday’s average was about $4 per gallon, according to most major news outlets.

St. Thomas-St. John has the steeper increase because fuel is trucked in from Puerto Rico on tanks, resulting in a pass-through on shipping costs from wholesalers, according to Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Richard Evangelista, who hosted a public town hall for residents Wednesday to address escalating prices. The good news, he added, is that the agency received a business license application from a company interested in bunkering fuel from the Limetree Bay storage facility operated by Gulf Oil.

Having the facility on St. Croix is what keeps the prices low for that district, Evangelista said.