Mobil gas prices down 10 cents

Pump prices of gasoline at Mobil Oil Marianas service stations went down by 10 cents a gallon late Tuesday afternoon, a little over a month after another 10-cent rollback on May 26.

The price of crude oil has been on a decline since May. It now hovers near $93 per barrel compared to over $100 per barrel weeks ago.

Shell Marianas’ pump prices remained unchanged as of late yesterday afternoon. The two oil giants have been historically mirroring each other’s price changes, so motorists expect Shell to follow Mobil’s price cut.

Regular unleaded gasoline at Mobil is now $4.659 a gallon, after Tuesday’s price reduction. Super unleaded gasoline now costs $4.979 a gallon.

Diesel also went down to $5.119 a gallon. Residents said this is still higher than the CNMI’s current minimum wage of $5.05 an hour.

Cris Pangelinan, 28, said yesterday that while he welcomes the 10-cent price cut, he’s hoping that Mobil and Shell will go back to its old prices at the start of the year.

At the start of the year, regular unleaded gas was $4.259 a gallon.

Prior to the two price reductions so far this year, regular unleaded gas price peaked at $4.859 a gallon, while diesel was at $5.319 a gallon. Gas prices on Rota and Tinian almost reached $7 a gallon.

“But I am actually hoping they could drop it by $1, so that gas prices will only be over $3 a gallon instead of over $4,” said Pangelinan in an interview at the Mobil-Sadog Tasi service station.

Pangelinan said he is currently unemployed but is pursuing studies at Northern Marianas College. He said he lives on Capital Hill, and has to drive his father to the Commonwealth Health Center in Garapan almost every day, then go to NMC, and pick up or drop off other family members.

“Gas price is affecting our family’s budget. We try to limit our trips to the important ones like going to school and the hospital,” he added.

Despite the 20-cent total rollback in May and June, CNMI gas prices are still among the highest in the United States.

Noribel Mendez, who works two jobs as a cashier and as a car rental sales and marketing staff, said she’s relieved that gas prices dropped by another 10 cents but she also hopes that power and water rates will also go down.

“If only CUC [Commonwealth Utilities Corp.] also brings down its rates, then people would be more relieved,” she said, adding that she spends over $40 a week on gasoline.

Gennaro Cioffi, president and lead country manager for Mobil Oil Mariana Islands Inc., earlier said that when wholesale prices of crude oil and gasoline decrease, it brings a positive impact on pump prices.

Retail pump prices are affected by a combination of factors, which include internationally traded wholesale prices, operating and capital cost, distribution costs, taxes and duties, currency exchange rates, and market competition.

Shell and Mobil do not issue advance notices of price increases, so many Saipan motorists only learn of price changes by the price displays at gasoline stations.