Hawaii drivers saved more than $400 on gas in 2015

The average Hawaii driver saved more than $400 at the pump in 2015, compared to 2014, the AAA Hawaii Weekend Gas Watch estimates.

The statewide average price of gas dropped by about a penny from last week to $2.69. The price for a gallon of regular gas is 12 cents less than last month and 82 cents less than last year.

Honolulu’s average gas price is $2.52 today, two cents less than last Thursday, 14 cents less than last month and 85 cents less than this time last year. In Hilo, the average gas price is $2.59 per gallon, unchanged from last week, 8 cents less than last month and 89 cents less than this time a year ago. Wailuku’s average is $3.25, four cents less than last Thursday, five cents less than last month and 50 cents less than at this time last year.

“Hawaii’s average gas price for all of 2015 is $3.10 per gallon for regular unleaded, which is $1.05 lower than the $4.15 average price for all of 2014,” said AAA Hawaii General Manager Liane Sumida. “For the Hawaii driver who travels 8,000 miles a year in a car getting 20 miles to the gallon, on average he or she spent $420 less on gas in 2015 than in 2014.”

Nationally, drivers saved a collective $115 billion plus this year on trips to the gas station. The average licensed driver pocketed more than $550. The average price for a gallon of gas never broke $3 this year, and it dipped below $2 in December, the first time that’s happened since the Great Recession in 2009.

Hawaii is among five states where gas costs $2.47 or more. The others are California, Nevada, Washington, Alaska.

Unlike previous years, Hawaii wasn’t the most expensive place to buy gas in 2015.

No one paid as much as Californians for gas this year. The average price in California was $3.16 per gallon. Unplanned and expensive maintenance costs at the state’s refineries are blamed for the high cost.

The AAA estimates that the gas savings will continue in the new year.

The annual average price of gas in 2016 will likely be between $2.25 and $2.45 per gallon, which would be cheaper or at least comparable to this year’s average of $2.40 per gallon.

Some industry analysts believe that cutbacks by U.S. producers will trim the huge surplus oil, and gasoline prices will rise as a result. But Iran may also start selling oil as sanctions ease, which would increase supply.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.