Average price of gas in Honolulu below $4
The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline dipped below $4 in Honolulu over the Memorial Day weekend and is at $3.97 today, but the statewide average remains at $4.10 a gallon.
Honolulu’s average price is about 12 cents lower than last week and 51 cents lower than the record of $4.48 set on May 8.
It’s still about 56 cents higher than the same time last year.
The website gasbuddy. com reported prices as low as $3.84 at two stations in the Kapahulu area and $3.86 per gallon at the Chevron at 1201 S. King St. on Monday.
Hilo is hovering at about $4.02 a gallon and could drop below $4 this week. But the average price in Wailuku is $4.60 a gallon.
The national average today is $3.78 a gallon and some analysts expect gas to continue to fall to $3.50 a gallon in the coming weeks.
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The price of a barrel of crude oil fell to about $100 Monday in world markets. Some analysts say the eventual return of Libyan crude production will help push oil prices lower. Traders also are awaiting next week’s meeting in Vienna of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to see if the group will boost oil production, which will also drive prices lower.
Demand for gasoline has fallen for eight straight weeks as drivers try to cut back because of the rise in gas prices. But the government still expects gasoline demand to grow slightly for the year.
"Drivers try to do what they can, but they have to go almost all the places they go," says David Greene, a researcher at the Center of Transportation Analysis at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and manager of the Department of Energy website fueleconomy.gov. "There’s no magic gizmo that will drastically change someone’s gasoline use."
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The and Bloomberg News contributed to this report.