ONE week after gas prices increased by 15 cents, Mobil and 76 pushed up the price at the pump by another 20 cents to $4.87 a gallon for regular unleaded fuel. Shell was expected to follow suit.
Premium unleaded is now $5.17 a gallon while diesel is $5.11 per gallon.
The highest level the price of gasoline on-island reached was reported back on March 1, when regular unleaded gas cost $4.97 a gallon.
The price remained at that amount until May 9 when the cost was reported down to $4.87 for regular unleaded. The price continued to decline up until June 25 when the price dropped to $4.27.
That all changed with the 15-cent jump on July 18, increasing the price of gas to $4.42. The price has been going up since then.
According to international news wires, the price of oil has also gone up by at least one-third in six weeks.
Analysts say prices were affected by the expectation that the U.S. Federal Reserve is going to launch a new plan to boost the economy.
Another issue at play is the conflict between Iran and Israel as well as Iran’s threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil sails through.
