Virgin Island fuel price rose as bombs fell in Iran and some local business owners are preparing for pump prices to remain high for the foreseeable future, they said Wednesday.
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. ordered executive branch agencies to conserve fuel, including reviewing how government vehicles were used. Precisely how fuel could be saved was unclear but the governor said it was a necessary first step.
“The uncertainty in global energy markets has the potential to affect fuel prices, family budgets, and the broader cost of living in the Virgin Islands. We are taking prudent action now as a first step to help cushion the impact of forces beyond our control, while we continue to monitor conditions and assess what additional measures may be needed,” Bryan said in a press release Tuesday.
High as fuel prices are, they’ve been much higher in recent memory, minus the threat of war and blockage of key oil transportation routes in the Middle East.
On St. Thomas Wednesday, regular gasoline was available between roughly $4.70 and $4.85 a gallon, and premium going for between roughly $5.20 and $5.59, depending on the station. Diesel was selling from roughly $5.80 to a whopping $6 a gallon. Even those prices may be on the low end.
USVI fuel prices have been high for a long time, however. In mid-January — more than a month before the attack on Iran — regular gas averaged a little more than $4.78 and premium was going for close to $5.34. Diesel topped $5.87, according to the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs. And even those prices were less than February 2025, when regular averaged $4.82 per gallon. Premium went for more than $5.63 and diesel was more than $5.89 in the territory.
Prices were even higher on St. John. As usual, St. Croix was less expensive. Regular was between $3.65 and $4.39 for regular, between $3.99 and $4.49 for premium, and between $4 and $5 for diesel, according to data collected by the Source.
On the mainland, national average price for regular gas was roughly $3.85 a gallon.
The worst may be to come, with the Wall Street Journal reporting late Wednesday that oil-barrel prices had soared past $110. President Donald Trump issued a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act to allow easier oil shipments, the paper reported. The Jones Act prohibits foreign-flagged commercial vessels with non-US crews from docking at two American ports in succession. The more-than-century-old law does not apply to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
While the governor asked for “careful stewardship of taxpayer dollars,” taxpayers were grappling with how to weather the storm. Most local small business owners the Source spoke with Wednesday afternoon said they had not yet passed the rise in fuel costs along to their customers but were considering it.
Capt. Cleo U. Hodge, owner of St. Thomas’ Ace Flight Center, said he was trying to delay as long as possible before passing rising fuel costs along to his flight school customers.
“We’ve been holding off as much as we can with students because for some of them it’s pretty tough. But if it continues surging like this, you know, we will have to do something,” Hodge said.
Rashad Griffith, owner of the St. John dump truck and container transporting company Rashad’s Trucking, said the fuel hit had been rough and speculated it wasn’t going away any time soon.
“It’s not working for me,” Griffith said. “Right now I’m considering implementing a fuel surcharge for each container and each haul that I do.”
He’s considering raising prices at least 50 cents a mile per haul. Slapping a fuel surcharge on his customers wasn’t something he wanted to do, but may be necessary.
“I don’t expect them to take everything but I can’t take it all myself,” Griffith said. “I’m not sure how I will implement that in the excavation portion but I’ll figure something out.”
Griffith said friends in the diesel delivery industry warned the price would keep rising.
“Honestly, I expect the price of diesel to go up to at least seven bucks.”
Food truck owner Perez Alejandro said high gas prices were about to hit her at work and at home.
Alejandro’s Frydendal-based Vinny’s Food Cart & Catering on the road to Coki Point depends on reasonably-priced cooking fuel — and so does her home life. But she’s not interested in raising prices.
“My customers come first,” she said. “I’ve got to take care of them.”
Jason Berry, owner of Paradise Trucking and Water Delivery on St. Thomas, shrugged.
“It is what it is. This ain’t the first time we’ve had a price increase like this,” Berry said.
Fuel prices spiked after Russia invaded Ukraine, he said.
“The price went through the roof for a couple of weeks and then it came right back down. It ain’t nothing new. We’re accustomed to seeing high prices here in the Virgin Islands,” Berry said. “Well, we’re just pushing forward. Nothing we can do about it.”
He had not increased his prices or added fuel surcharges but didn’t rule it out.
A St. Croix water hauler said they were implementing fuel-saving efforts and some price increases, but declined to speak on the record.
Two days after the United States and Israel struck Iran, Sen. Marvin A. Blyden called on gasoline retailers across the territory to refrain from using the bombings as justification for increasing fuel prices.
Blyden said the territory’s fuel prices were “a very different pattern in the continental United States, where average gasoline prices have continued a downward trajectory.” The national average price for regular gasoline on the mainland dropped to $3.10 per gallon in 2025, he said.
“Despite this consistent national decline, Virgin Islands consumers have faced persistently elevated fuel costs during the same period. Investigations by the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs show markups as high as 62% on regular gasoline, with even higher margins on premium fuel and diesel. These elevated markups persist despite a 19% drop in global crude oil prices as of May 2025, indicating that savings in wholesale markets are not being passed on to the public,” Blyden said.
