08-28-2014, 09:05 AM
Hawaii island gets almost all its gas and diesel from the two refineries on Oahu, Chevron and Tesoro. Due to the nature of the evolution of electric power on these islands, there is a very close relationship between these refineries and Hawaiian Electric, and no stupid conspiracy. In the past, they had agreed to and kind of left with no choice with the Jones Act, to get most of the raw oil from Indonesia. This was competitive, since tankers from Indonesia are not subject to the Jones Act and Honolulu is the international port of entry. To make a long story short, the refineries and Hawaiian Electric are shifting their oil contracts to Mexico, which also doesn't require Jones Act, so the tankers can come through the canal, straight to Hawaii. Indonesia oil has been going for a premium and there is a lot of southeast Asia demand, so the price per barrel was kept high. The local refineries can't handle the high sulfur content of Alaskan oil anyway, and the Gulf oil is higher quality, at more competitive per barrel prices. That is why the local gas prices will probably start going down quite a bit.
"We come in peace!" - First thing said by missionaries and extraterrestrials
"We come in peace!" - First thing said by missionaries and extraterrestrials
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*