Full Title: U.S. Virgin Islands Petroleum Price-Spike Preparation
Author(s): Caley Johnson
Publisher(s): National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Publication Date: June 1, 2012
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
There is widespread fear that the recent closure of the Hovensa refinery will lead to a petroleum price spike throughout the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), and particularly on St. Croix. It is possible that the price will spike when the refinery’s stockpile depletes in July 2012 or when a geopolitical incident upsets a tight global oil market within the next decade. There are a number of preparations the USVI government, corporations, and associations can make as part of a twopronged strategy to minimize the negative impact that such a price spike would have on the USVI economy.
One part of the strategy targets transportation and delivery companies. It improves their chances of surviving a petroleum price spike by facilitating their implementation of a fuel surcharge or helping them reduce their petroleum use through better route planning or idle reduction. The second part of the strategy targets commuters. The commuter-aimed programs recommended in this report were identified by studying commuter behavior in the continental United States during the price spike of 2008.