Gas prices start to jump

The nation's major oil wholesalers increased their product prices Sunday, blaming higher crude oil prices and prompting gasoline stations across the nation to hike their prices to as high as the upper ¥170 level per liter.

Sign of the times: A worker at a gasoline station in Ota Ward, Tokyo, changes the price for regular to ¥174 on Sunday. KYODO PHOTO

Nippon Oil Corp., Japan's biggest oil distributor, hiked the wholesale prices of its gasoline and other petroleum products by ¥12 per liter for shipments in June, its steepest monthly markup ever.

Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. and other companies increased their product prices by about ¥10 per liter.

Following the moves, retailers raised prices at the pump.

In Ota Ward, Tokyo, gasoline stations affiliated with oil wholesaler Idemitsu Kosan Co. raised the price for regular gasoline by ¥15 per liter to ¥174.

"I'm starting to get the feeling that gasoline is becoming too expensive," said a 57-year-old company worker filling his tank at one of the gas stations. "I will have to refrain from using my car."

"Customers are very sensitive about prices now," said Akira Hayashi, who runs the gas station. "I'm worried that more customers might start conserving on gasoline consumption."

In Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, after a popular self-serve gas station raised the price by ¥15, a line of customers disappeared.

"I have to go to a hospital by car whenever something happens. So (the hike) is troublesome for me," said Kazuo Kanabuchi, a 51-year-old surgeon buying gas at the station.

A gas station in Chuo Ward, Osaka, hiked its price to ¥178, up ¥13.

Naoki Oba, a 32-year-old manager at the gas station, said sales go down whenever the station raises prices.

"It's an unbelievable price. I may have to sell my car if gas prices keep going up," said Yusuke Tanaka, 27, a company worker from Suita, Osaka Prefecture, who was filling his tank at the station.

In Nagoya, a gas station raised its price by ¥12 per liter to ¥174.

A 28-year-old worker at the station said some customers decided not to fill their tanks after seeing the new price.

"I'm worried the price might just keep going up. I want (the government) to put the brakes on these hikes," said a 50-year-old lawyer filling his car.

Some gasoline stations in Nagoya, however, did not raise prices because many customers are sensitive to prices.

Data released by the Oil Information Center shows that the nationwide average retail price of regular gasoline stood at a record ¥160.30 per liter as of May 26, up from the previous high of ¥160.10 recorded a week earlier.

The average price at the pump temporarily dropped to the ¥130 level in April in the wake of the March 31 expiration of gas tax surcharges.

The surcharges of ¥25.1 per liter were reinstated May 1 after the Diet passed a tax code bill with support from the ruling coalition.

The retail price is expected to rise as much as ¥40 from April due to the revival of the surcharges and higher crude oil prices, according to industry officials.