Maui Close to Averaging $4 for Gas

On Thursday, California hit another record with an average of $3.609, overtaking Hawaii ($3.587) for the nation's highest gas prices. Meanwhile, the national average has risen to a record $3.267, according to the auto club.

But Maui, which doesn't have a major public transportation system, now has all the California cities beat by at least a quarter a gallon.

Residents here have long wondered why gas prices on the island are so much higher than on neighboring Oahu, where Honolulu gas is about 50 cents less.

"It's like we work just to pay gas," resident Yolanda Ellis said. "Funny how our gas goes up but our pay stays the same."

Hawaii, which imports most of its crude oil from Alaska and Indonesia, has two refineries on Oahu operated by Chevron and Tesoro Hawaii .

Both companies blame the Maui price on higher transportation costs, even though islands further away, such as the Big Island, have lower prices. They also cite several other factors, such as volume, competition and higher local taxes on Maui.

Chevron spokesman Albert Chee said the price, in most cases, is set by the station operators and owners. The company sets the retail prices for only six stations it owns out of the 63 Chevron-branded outlets in Hawaii.

The company wouldn't disclose the difference in wholesale price between Maui and Oahu. However, Chee said: "It's not 50 cents. It's not even half."

"The difference between Oahu and Maui of 50 cents is not flowing into my pocket," he said.

Chevron noted that the cost of crude oil has spiked 20 percent in the past 30 days, while gasoline has increased 9 percent nationwide and only 5 percent in Hawaii.

Not everyone seemed upset with the pump prices on Maui. Tourists, who pay an average close to $300 a night for a hotel room, don't seem to mind.

"If the gas would've been higher, we still would've gone," said Jack Glisson, of Jacksonville, Ill. "It didn't make any difference."

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