We know, we know. This is Kauai. Everything is more expensive here. But the latest surge in gas prices is a bit much, even for the Garden Isle. Kauai has the distinction of the highest gas prices in the nation.
We know, we know. This is Kauai. Everything is more expensive here. But the latest surge in gas prices is a bit much, even for the Garden Isle. Kauai has the distinction of the highest gas prices in the nation. Yep. Gas prices here are about 50 cents a gallon higher than Oahu and the Big Island, and 30 cents a gallon higher than Maui. California, notorious for high gas prices, has an average price of $4.19 for regular, $4.39 for premium. Today’s national average price at the pump is $3.64 per gallon. This is six cents more expensive than one week ago, 12 cents more than one month ago, and 11 cents more per gallon than the same date last year, AAA reported.
But it’s perfectly understandable why we must pay so much more for fuel here. After all, like we said already, this is Kauai, where everything just flat costs more, and if you don’t like it, leave. The shipping costs must be why a gallon of regular recently broke the $5 barrier in Princeville.
The isolation of Kauai must be why premium gas is at $4.99 a gallon in Lihue. Oh, and there’s that May 1 deadline, when refineries must start producing summer-blend fuel. According to reports, that means there will be seasonal refinery maintenance and “the changeover itself increases the chances that an unplanned disruption to production may take place.”
“The increased incidence of disruption puts upward pressure on prices, and can send prices sharply higher in an area that is supplied by an impacted facility,” the AAA report says.
That also explains why gas prices are soaring.
Sadly, gas prices haven’t topped out. It won’t be long before a gallon of regular tops $5 everywhere on Kauai. It will keep climbing. And sadly, nearly everyone will just pay that without a whimper. Oh, sure there will be muttering and grumbling and talk of cutting back on visits to the coffee shop to make up for the expense of driving. But for the most part, everyone will just drive to where they’re going and hand over more money at the pumps. Very few, if any, will trade in trucks, SUV or vans and their 15 mpg, for a four-cyclinder that gets 30 mpg. People are reluctant to change their lifestyle.
And some simply can’t. Their livelihood depends on big rigs, being able to haul materials and access rough country, and high gas prices hit them hardest.
There’s always talk of razor-thin margins on gas prices, and that could be true for local distributors. But not oil companies. According to one report, the 2013 profit totals for the big five oil companies — BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Shell — earned a combined total of $93 billion last year, or $177,000 per minute. Not bad. They must have such profits for research and development, in case you were wondering what happens to all that money.
“As mindboggling as it sounds, Big Oil’s $93 billion in profits in 2013 — impressive by any standard — were nonetheless a 27 percent reduction in profits compared to 2012, primarily because gasoline averaged 16 cents per gallon — or 4 percent — less,” the report said.
While businesses generally worry about prices being too high and alienating customers, not so with oil companies. They know you’ll pay the asking price for gas. You have no choice. It’s that, or start biking, walking, carpooling or taking the bus. But oil companies know that’s a bluff. Won’t last. When there’s some national outcry about high gas prices, about protesting, about not paying, the oil companies know it’s a joke. They have little incentive to keep prices low other than high prices could negatively impact the economy if people won’t go out and spend their money because it went go gas.
Good thing about high gas prices? Maybe we will finally, seriously, look at hydrogen to power our vehicles.
“Hydrogen is also a brilliant alternative fuel because it can be abundantly created from domestic sources of natural gas, contributing to energy independence in the U.S. and other countries with natural gas reserves, which appear to be more abundant than known liquid oil deposits,” according to Digital Trends.
“Hydrogen fuel cell technology is proven, clean, reliable and scalable,” goes the report. “But is that enough to make it viable as part of our overall and entrenched fueling matrix?”
Our guess is, no. At least not for many years.
Bottom line, gas prices will keep rising. And we’ll keep paying.
See you at the pumps.
