04-11-2011, 10:27 AM
quote:I've heard a lot of reasons for the differential, and the two most common are:
Originally posted by rbakker
No doubt it's been asked before, but could someone explain to me why gas is 50c per gallon more expensive here than on the mainland? (average price there is 3.79) It doesn't cost 50c (or even 10c) a gallon to ship gas from the mainland to here, surely.
1. Taxes on gasoline in Hawaii are higher than in almost any other state. According to a AAA survey in January of this year, only California and New York taxed gas more heavily than here.
2. High refining costs in a captive market. While it is true that the cost of doing business in Hawaii is higher than most places, some people doubt the refiners' claims that cost of refining crude here has to be as high as they say. I honestly don't know, not being a petroleum economist.