Consumers question the price of gas
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The price of gas in the Cayman Islands has not relented from more than CI$5.50 for months, despite prices in the United States falling considerably in the month of September.
The Cayman Islands have yet to see those savings.
There have been some bright spots however, with the cost of petrol coming down by about 10 cents in recent days.
Though this is not comparable to the relief felt by drivers in the US, according to data obtained from the Associated Press.
With regard to prices in America an article published by the news source stated in September, “The national average for regular unleaded gasoline is $3.51 per gallon, down from a high of $3.98 in early May.” The article went on to state the “plunge in oil prices could push the average to $3.25 per gallon by November.”
In April of this year gas prices went up twice, within the space of a month, increasing by 10 cents one week and by another 25 cents less than a month later, with barely no relief since.
At the time an explanation was offered by country manager for ESSO Standard Oil, Alan Neesome.
“The reason for the increases was that two shipments of gas arrived very closely together,” he said. “One on the Friday and one on the Sunday,” adding that the last shipment was on 3 April.
Mr. Neesome said the uniformity in prices in Cayman had more to do with the fact dealers’ storage is limited and most dealers get fuel everyday, meaning they are immediately affected by price increases.
It is unclear why retailers are not immediately affected by price decreases.
Though Mr. Sharpe said if there is 8,000 gallons and 5,000 gallons are sold, then the remaining 3,000 gallons had to be sold at the old price.
He was unable to say why those prices by and large have lasted for the better part of this year, but alluded to it being a matter of bad luck or timing with regard to when tankers headed for Cayman are loaded. “Prices fluctuate all the time.
If we load two weeks after prices went down, prices may be back up by that time,” he said.
Jermaine Sharpe of ESSO Standard Oil said he could not comment on what price ESSO provided gas to service stations at wholesale.
Nor could he say how much more the prices consumers see at the pump are than wholesale prices.
He said ESSO Standard Oil passes on decreases and increases to their retailers, but has no control over retailers.
After several calls to various gas stations around the Islands to enquire whether there is a petroleum retailer’s association on Island that comes together to set the price of gas, Johnny Brown, owner of Brown’s ESSO in Industrial Park said, “There is no official association, but owners meet when issues arise or if they need to meet.”
He did not say whether price was one of the issues, which required owners of competing gas stations to meet.
There is no legislation in the Cayman Islands expressly outlawing the practice of collusion.
Texaco officials could not be reached.
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It is shameful that gas prices have not gone down. There is obviously collusion and price fixing. The question is, where is the government in this? The role of the government is to protect the people. Why is the government not protecting us?
I’m sure everyone knows that once the price starts going up again, we will be effected immediately.
Shame on the petrol stations and on all of the people who are taking advantage of Caymanians.
Well it is pretty easy math to figure out who is gouging us.
Find out what the wholesale price is add on what government levies and what the retail gas station is charging.
I hope the Compass follows up on this and gets everyone these answers.
Also, is there a chart of historical gasoline prices in Cayman?
When the price of crude oil when back down under 80 there was never a price change but when ever there is a price increase of crude the next day we see it at the pumps. In the states last week we paid US3.15/gallon here in Cayman we are paying US7.06/gallon. Something is fishy…..
– It is unclear why retailers are not immediately affected by price decreases.-
Ummm… it’s clear why. Oil companies are greedy, driven only by profits. Once high prices have set in and feel almost normal or expected by the consumer, why would they ever drop the price again.
For example, as reported on Oct 27, 2011, Exxon Mobil reported quarterly earnings of 10.3 billion, a surge of 41% from a year earlier.
Why? Higher prices for oil and natural gas.
Profit at the oil company soared compared to the same period a year ago, when it was 7.4 billion. Per-share income climbed to 2.13 per share from 1.44 in the prior year.
And revenue rose to 125.3 billion from 95.3 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Egregious that they are milking consumers for everything they can. It’s time Cayman give these companies the finger and start implementing other energy solutions that will reduce our dependency on big oil companies.
Yes it’s a shame that petrol prices are not decreasing; there’s a probably a leak somewhere and the Government should plug it. But it’s not fair to compare prices to the USA as that country pretty much ‘owns’ the oil-producing MiddleEast and has vast reserves of its own as well. Better to compare to the UK and other EU countries and one will find that petrol is slightly cheaper here in Cayman.
But the bigger issue and hole in the pocket is due to Electricity (which the Compass covered as well recently). No where have I seen such expensive energy for domestic users and that’s mainly on the pretence of higher fuel costs too. Surely the Government can do more on these two fronts.
Mr. Neesome said the uniformity in prices in Cayman had more to do with the fact dealers’ storage is limited and most dealers get fuel every day, meaning they are immediately affected by price increases.
It is unclear why retailers are not immediately affected by price decreases.
If we are immediately affected by increases, one would think we would be immediately affected by decreases. Immediate is immediate. We can’t only be immediately impacted when the price rises, but delayed months at a time when it comes to decreases.
The minute OPEC starts THINKING about increasing gas prices, you can see employees at the gas stations changing the prices on the signs out front. But when prices ACTUALLY go down the prices remain the same.
We have been told for years that the prices went up because we just received a shipment at the higher price. When prices go down internationally we are told we are still using the gas that we bought at the higher prices; no new shipments are coming in for another 2 weeks.
Convenient how the storage facilities are always DRY when prices rise but overflowing when prices drop. Shipments come in every Friday and Sunday when the prices are exorbitant but ships are nowhere on the horizon when prices drop. I think I’ve repeated myself enough to make my point…..
I smell a big, fat rat!
Mr. Neesome said the uniformity in prices in Cayman had more to do with the fact dealers’ storage is limited and most dealers get fuel everyday, meaning they are immediately affected by price increases. ‘
Not a smart answer. Price should not fluctuate by mere delivery from Cayman depot to dealer’s storage. It should be affected by delivery from tankers to Cayman depot.
The high price of gas on the island is the result of many factors. For example, gas must be imported as an already refined product(refinery and transportation costs, etc.) because Cayman has no oil refinery. Obviously this makes the product more expensive. Secondly, there are far too many gas operated vehicles on the roads, which creates a high demand for gas. Also, with the current limited storage capacity based on demand, gas has to be imported more frequently.
Currently, the price for a barrel of oil is hovering around 80 to 90 per barrel. The forecast is that oil will remain close to 100 per barrel for the foreseeable future. And worse, if world demand for oil increases the price can top 100 per barrel. Cayman better budget for rising prices.
The key to price stability is CONSERVATION. When there is less demand the price will automatically go down. How is this accomplished? Drive less and drive more fuel efficient cars such as hybrids and electric cars as we have proven in the USA.