Gas prices at on-base stations throughout the Pacific will jump by a dime starting Monday in the monthly adjustment by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.
As of Monday, prices for regular unleaded fuel in Guam and South Korea once again will top $2, while the price for regular unleaded in Japan jumps to $1.84.
Earlier this year, AAFES revamped its pricing system so that changes can be made monthly; previously in Japan and Okinawa, the price was set annually. As a result of the change, prices in Japan and Okinawa gradually have increased.
According to an AAFES news release, the price for a gallon of unleaded fuel in South Korea will increase from $1.91 to $2.02. The price for premium unleaded will increase from $2.10 to $2.21 per gallon.
Diesel fuel will jump 20 cents, from $1.93 to $2.13.
On Friday at an off-post gas station in Seoul, regular unleaded gas was listed at $5.06 per gallon. For mainland Japan and Okinawa, mid-grade fuel prices will increase from $1.74 to $1.84. Diesel prices also will rise 10 cents, from $1.61 to $1.71. At off-post gas stations Friday, gas was selling for $3.76 a gallon on Okinawa and around $4.20 a gallon in Japan’s Kanto Plain.
Prices at AAFES stations in Japan and Okinawa have jumped 20 cents since the pricing system was changed in late September.
“With the new monthly gas price policy, we at AAFES knew there would be an increase in the price to be more in line with the DOE average,” Col. Michelle Gardner-Ince, AAFES Pacific Region Commander, stated in a news release when prices were adjusted for October.
“We wanted to minimize the impact to customers, so we will be raising the price by 10 cents a month until we meet the DOE average.”
On Guam, the price of unleaded fuel will jump from $1.92 per gallon to $2.04 per gallon. Premium unleaded will sell for $2.22 per gallon, up from $2.12. Diesel is not sold at AAFES stations on Guam. Regular unleaded fuel sells for $2.52 a gallon off-base on Guam.
AAFES officials say they base their prices on U.S. Department of Energy averages for the previous four-week period.
According to DOE statistics, gas prices in the United States have returned to record levels, after falling slightly after the peak summer travel season.
This week, the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas was $2.03, which is 46 cents higher than the same week one year ago. California has the highest average gas prices, at $2.40 a gallon, up 63 cents from a year ago.
According to Department of Energy estimates, the high prices mean Americans in total have spent $26 billion more on gasoline through the first nine months of 2004 than over the same period last year.
