MEDIA RELEASE

Hawaii, March 24- Average retail gasoline prices in Hawaii have risen 2.8 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $4.18/g yesterday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 355 gas outlets in Hawaii. This compares with the national average that has not moved in the last week to $3.51/g, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com

Including the change in gas prices in Hawaii during the past week, prices yesterday were 20.1 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 15.5 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has increased 10.2 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 13.0 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.

“As I expected, the panic at the pump slowed considerably in the last week, with the national barely grinding out an increase in the last week, ” said GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan. “A cooling in oil prices during the previous week heavily influenced last week’s quieter increase. While oil prices haven’t moved much higher, we are starting to see more chatter about refinery incidents as more of them finish maintenance and get back online, and this can lead to spikes in gasoline prices if several refineries see unexpected outages or longer than normal return to production times, so motorists should be vigilant that while I don’t expect prices across the nation to spike significantly, it’s a risk that’s on the table, ” DeHaan said.

For Big Island gas prices and trends visit — www.hawaii247.com/gas