For The First Time In Years, Gas Will Go Below $2 Per Gallon At Midnight Tonight, Courtesy Super Tanker Service Station

ST. CROIX — For the first time in years, the price for a gallon of gas will go below the $2 mark from at least one gas station on St. Croix, The Virgin Islands Consortium can confirm.

Super Tanker, located across the Wendy’s Restaurant in Sunny Isle, will at midnight tonight lower its regular unleaded gas to $1.99 per gallon. The news comes as gas prices have fallen on this island to their lowest point in years, with the average price being $2.25 per gallon. Tonight’s decrease will mark a drop of .26 cents.

The owners of Super Tanker, in a conversation with this publication at the gas station this afternoon, said this was their way of giving back to the community, as they’ve been in business on this island for decades.

“There is literally no profit in this move,” said Iyad Abdallah, an owner of the gas station. “But what it is, you’re offering that return for the people.”

The price is expected to stay below the $2 mark for the foreseeable future, pending no sharp increase in the oil the markets, Mr. Abdallah said.

“We pushed to do this a couple months ago but it didn’t happen because prices fluctuated. But now this is the best we could get it to below $2, and that’s what we’re doing. That’s a .26 cents drop, I mean, it’s a big drop,” Mr. Abdallah said.

Super Tanker also expects to see a surge in traffic following the price drop, and is predicting their closest competitor, Shuama Gas Station, to do the same. Even so, Mr. Abdallah said they would have been the first to do so and will be remembered as such.

“We’ve been in business for many years. You make some, and this is where you don’t make some. You’re giving back to the community,” he said.

The gas station’s convenience store is also expected to benefit from the flood of customers anticipated at the gas station. And other businesses connected to it, including a tire store now in operation, as well as a wood fire BBQ grill restaurant expected to open during the holidays, according to Mr. Abdallah.

Mr. Abdallah, his father and uncles have operated multiple businesses from since 1984 on this island. They own Royal Furniture in Peter’s Rest, where they are planning some major initiatives.

Mr. Abdallah said their decision to drop the price below $2, while not seeing any profits, will serve as a statement of their willingness to fairly serve the people of St. Croix. “I’m for the people, not against the people,” he said. “I’m a business owner; I have to sustain and make some money. But when I can, I’ll make sure that you guys get savings in return.”

Mr. Abdallah said they’ve owned the gas station for several years but took over in 2009 to operate it themselves, and have been expanding ever since.

Feature Image: Super Tanker Service Station receiving an order of gas, transported by Bunkers of St. Croix. (Ernice Gilbert, VIC)