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Shell follows Mobil’s 10-cent gas price cut
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Posted on May 11 2012
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
Reporter
Shell Marianas mirrored Mobil Oil Mariana Islands’ 10-cent a gallon gas price reduction on Saipan, bittersweet news for motorists wishing that prices would further go down as they continue to deal with work hour cuts, high utility costs, and joblessness.
Mobil slashed its pump prices on Tuesday. Shell followed on Wednesday.
Regular gas price on Saipan is now $5.059 a gallon after a 10-cent cut, while super/V-Power is now $5.379 a gallon.
Diesel now costs $5.419 a gallon on Saipan.
Rudy Santos, of San Vicente, said Shell and Mobil are fast in raising prices but are slow to reduce them when all others in the region had already done so.
“Yes, a 10-cent cut is okay. But we need it to be much lower. Still, if you are earning minimum wage of $5.05 an hour, you need to work one full hour so you can buy gas,” Santos said as he was buying $10 worth of gas at a Shell station in Dandan.
Ever since pump prices began hitting the $5-mark, Santos has stopped using his van’s air conditioner to save on gas.
Ireksin Made, of As Lito, said the $21 they put into their family’s pickup truck last for only about three days, and that’s considered a big chunk of the household’s budget.
“I wish gas is back to $3. We’ve already been cutting almost everywhere but we can’t do anything about the gas price,” he said.
CNMI gas prices, especially those on Rota and Tinian, are the highest on American soil.
Mobil earlier said that prices of gasoline are determined by a number of factors, including changes in the world market wholesale prices of gasoline, regional gasoline supply and demand balance, transportation costs, insurance, local distribution, marketing costs, government regulations, taxes, competitive market forces, and investments in retail stations and distribution terminals.
