Honolulu average gas prices drop below $4 a gallon
The price of gas fell below $4 a gallon to in Honolulu to $3.98 cents a gallon over the Memorial Day weekend, but the statewide average remains at about $4.11 a gallon.
Honolulu’s price is about 13 cents lower than last week and about 50 cents lower than the record set on May 8. It’s still about 56 cents higher than the same time last year.
It’s likely the average will continue to drop. The website gasbuddy.com reported prices as low as $3.84 at two stations in the Kaphulu area and $3.86 gallon at the Chevron at 1201 S. King St.
Hilo is hovering just about the $4 a gallon mark at about $4.02 a gallon and should drop below $4 this week. But the average price in Wailuku is $4.60 cents a gallon.
The national average is about $3.79 cents 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 fo a barrel of oil fell to near $100 today in world markets. Some analysts expect 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.”
The Associated Press and Bloomberg News contributed to this story.