Guam bases will have the cheapest unleaded gasoline in the Pacific beginning Saturday, new pricing data released this week by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service showed.
AAFES said it’s retail price for a gallon of unleaded on the island will plummet to $2.68, down 52 cents from $3.20. Prices at base pumps in South Korea will dip another penny to $2.74 per gallon, after a 53-cent decrease at the beginning of the month, according to AAFES.
Meanwhile, AAFES’ unleaded gas prices at military installations in Japan and Okinawa remained stuck at summer highs of $4.06 per gallon and are not expected to change until at least next month.
The dive in costs at Guam and South Korea base pumps follows a downward spiral of gas prices in the United States and around the world that began with a global economic crisis in September.
The average stateside price of a gallon of regular decreased to $2.40 on Monday, down 51 cents since Oct. 20, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
U.S. and overseas motorists were paying record high prices in July.
Costs at U.S. gas pumps began to diminish and in early September, began a freefall that has not ended, according to data from the EIA.
Despite the decreases elsewhere, AAFES prices in Japan and Okinawa are not expected to change until the Defense Energy Supply Center, which provides fuel and prices for defense operations around the world, considers new fuel costs in December, said Master Sgt. Donovan Potter, AAFES spokesman.
Bases in Japan and Okinawa are supplied solely by DESC, which sets prices annually, and have been unsuccessful in contracting a private supplier for cheaper gas, Potter said.
Guam and South Korea fuel is supplied by private contractors and bases there have negotiated lower prices, he said.
