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Shell hikes gas prices by 7 cents
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Posted on Apr 11 2005
Shell Marianas implemented another round of price increases, bringing its pump prices to more than $3 a gallon beginning last midnight.
News about the new 7-cent gallon price adjustment prompted some motorists to fully refill their gas tanks before the new prices became effective. Shell’s cumulative price adjustment for the year—its fourth on Saipan in just over two months—has now reached 28 cents a gallon.
“Many motorists were asking about the new price adjustment, so we told them about it. Some of them gassed up full-tank,” said a gas station staff, who requested anonymity. “Some motorists even came back with their other vehicles to gas up.”
Filling up at a Shell station now costs $3.089 a gallon for premium gasoline at full-serve rate. Self-serve rate is $2.969 per gallon, the same rate as that of regular gasoline at full-serve rate. Shell gas stations now peg prices of regular gasoline, self-serve rate at $2.839, and diesel at $3.009 per gallon.
In a media release, Shell Marianas president Phil Stalker attributed the price adjustment to market forces in Singapore.
“The pricing of crude, gasoline and diesel in Singapore, where Shell sources [its] product[s], continues to trade at record levels. We have increased our retail price of regular and premium unleaded gasoline and diesel to keep up with changes in our supply costs,” Stalker said.
Shell first increased pump prices this year last Jan. 28. In less than a month beginning on Feb. 22, Shell took on another upward price adjustment, citing the rising demand for crude oil and refined product in China. Shell raised pump prices by 7 cents for the third time this year on March 24.
Shell had rolled back pump prices on Saipan by at least four times since November last year for a cumulative gallon price adjustment of about 20 cents, before increasing them for the first time last January.
