Prices at the pump are higher at AAFES stations than off base in Japan, where the Japanese government recently began subsidizing fuel. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — The price for a gallon of premium gas on U.S. military bases in South Korea and Guam will jump above $5 a gallon this weekend amid continued fighting in the Middle East.
Crude oil traded above $92 on Thursday, down from $119 on March 9, according to the Wall Street Journal.
A pricelist released that day by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service shows more pain at the pump in store starting Saturday.
Exchange customers in South Korea will pay $5.029 a gallon for premium, up from $4.779. On Guam, they will pay $5.059 for premium, up from $4.809.
A gallon of regular will cross the $4 threshold at AAFES stations across South Korea from $3.809 to $4.049. On Guam, it jumps from $3.839 to $4.079.
The same gallon of regular is holding relatively steady elsewhere across the Pacific.
A Misawa Air Base in northeastern Japan, drivers pay will continue to pay $4.539; at Camp Zama, outside Tokyo, it’s staying at $4.059; and on Okinawa, it will remain $4.499.
At Yokota Air Base, in western Tokyo, a small increase will push regular from $4.009 to $4.019 a gallon.
AAFES customers across Japan will pay $4.999 a gallon for premium, up from $4.749.
Diesel prices are already above $5 a gallon across the Pacific. In South Korea, diesel is going from $5.159 to $5.459 a gallon. On main-island Japan, diesel will rise from $5.129 to $5.429 a gallon, while the price will hold steady on Okinawa at $5.579.
Prices at the pump are higher at AAFES stations than off base in Japan, where the Japanese government recently began subsidizing fuel.
A Japanese service station near Yokota Air Base sold regular for 157 yen a liter or about $3.71 a gallon on Thursday. Premium sold for 168 yen a liter or $3.97 a gallon and diesel sold for 142 yen a liter or $3.37 a gallon.
The exchange sets overseas pump prices based on the Department of Energy’s weekly average for each grade of gasoline in the continental United States, plus the unique, incremental costs the exchange incurs in each overseas market.
These costs include labor, excess depreciation and other unique expenses associated with providing gasoline to authorized drivers overseas, according to AAFES.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, gasoline prices at U.S. bases in Japan doubled in two years.
In March 2020, just as the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus pandemic, a gallon of regular cost about $2.30 but by May 2022 the price at AAFES pumps in the Pacific had topped $4.50 a gallon with premium selling for well over $5 a gallon.
