The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in the United States is $3.43, down from $3.56 a year ago. But elements ranging from refinery locations to local taxes have caused prices to stay much higher in some areas. Among American cities, the one with the highest price is Honolulu at $4.24.
The difference between the price in Honolulu and in all other large U.S. cities is a large one. San Francisco is number two at $4.01. No other cities have an average gas price over $4 a gallon.
According to GasBuddy, which measures gasoline prices among large cities and all states and provinces in both Canada and the United States, the average price in Hawaii is also highest among all states at $4.28. Alaska is second at $3.98 a gallon.
One of the reasons gas is so expensive in Honolulu is Hawaii’s gas tax. At $0.391, it is the third highest in the United States, after New York and California. The primary reasons gas is so expensive in Honolulu are the fact that Hawaii has only two refineries and the transportation costs to get oil and gas hundreds of miles to the islands are huge.
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According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration:
Hawaii produces no petroleum and has no proved petroleum reserves. The state has two refineries, located in the Honolulu port area. Both can produce a broad range of refined products and have been meeting almost all of Hawaii’s demand. One refinery was scheduled to be shut down in 2013 and turned into a terminal facility, but a new owner decided to maintain refining operations. Refinery feedstock is most often light sweet crude oil imported from Pacific Rim producers, although crude oil is also imported from Africa, Russia, South America, and the Middle East. Alaska used to be a major crude oil supplier to Hawaii, but its production has declined. Refined products, primarily jet fuel and propane, are also imported from Asia, Canada, and the Caribbean.
As an example of that distance, Hawaii is more than 4,000 miles from Tokyo.
No matter how much gas prices fall in the United States, Honolulu is bound to have America’s most expensive gas.
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