Maritime Heritage & Cheap(er) Gasoline

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This is a photo I took of this mega yacht tied up at the St. Croix Marine, it has been stylized in my photoshop program to appear as a painting. Visitors like this sailboat (with their owners) are tying up on this Island, because of the oil refinery here. Once Hess Oil; now locally owned and called HOVENSA, it is the largest refinery in this hemishpere. In the early 1960's, Mr. Hess promised the Islanders cheaper gasoline and diesel fuel for allowing the construction of his behemoth air polluter.

Unfortunately for the locals, and I suppose for visitors too, are the independent gasoline dealers, who are unscrupulous in their price fixin' ways. However, we did visit St. Thomas earlier this year and found the price of gasoline was .70 cents costlier per gallon on average than St. Croix. Go figure, who knows what the price would be without the refinery in the picture? Off the charts no doubt!

To wander back to the point, the cheaper gasoline is a real factor given that these vessels can hold 10,000 gallons (or more) of fuel... ...therefore, with a $1.00 per gallon disparity in price. Let's see, multiply $1 x 10,000 and you get....... well, you do the math! Thanks Mr. Hess, I guess!