Hawai'i consumers should soon get a first glimpse into the inner financial workings of the state's petroleum industry.

Starting today two dozen oil companies will begin filing monthly and weekly reports disclosing in some cases crude oil costs, wholesale prices, gross margins and other figures with the state Public Utilities Commission.

The PUC is required to release information collected to the public within 14 days.

The reports mark the first time the state will attempt to determine how much money oil companies make in Hawai'i and follows decades of debate over the cause of Hawai'i's high gasoline prices.

Lawmakers hope the increased transparency will discourage unfair pricing in the wake of the suspension of Hawai'i's controversial gasoline price caps, which regulated wholesale prices from September 2005 to May 2006.

It's also hoped the data will show whether oil profits in Hawai'i are abnormally high. However, state regulators aren't predicting when they'll be able to draw such conclusions.

"There might not be definitive conclusion drawn until we can look at data over a long-term period," said PUC spokeswoman Lisa Kikuta.

That analysis could be affected by staffing and systems delays. That's because only two out of seven oil industry-related positions at the PUC are filled and it could be more than a year before the agency installs a new database that will allow more efficient data analysis.

"Attracting qualified applicants to these temporary positions has been difficult, but we are hopeful that with the conversion of those positions to permanent effective July 1, 2007, more may be interested," Kikuta said in an e-mail to The Advertiser. "Meanwhile, we continue to use existing staff to work on petroleum data collection and analysis, among the other regulatory duties we have."

However, the public may not have to wait long before drawing its own conclusions. Under the Petroleum Industry Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting program, which was passed in 2006 and revised this year, the PUC must begin disseminating data to the public within two weeks after it's filed. The law states that the PUC still must preserve the confidentiality of specific data filed by each company.

Sen. Ron Menor, D-17th (Mililani, Waipi'o), said the PUC still has discretion to release wholesale and retail gasoline prices along with industry profit margins and crude oil costs.

"The PUC's most important responsibility is to release whatever information they can to the public ... so people can determine why gasoline prices are changing and why gasoline prices are excessive," he said. "It will allow the public to exert some pressure on the industry."

The PUC said it hasn't decided how much information it will make public.

"We are aware of that requirement and will comply with it," Kikuta said. "At this point we don't have anything to tell you about what we will post."

Hawai'i drivers typically pay the highest gasoline prices in the nation. Those prices are partially caused by the state's isolated, small market, which isn't subject to the same fluctuations in supply and demand that force Mainland prices to move.

That means Hawai'i prices tend to remain stable and lag behind the Mainland — heading both up and down. The high cost of doing business in the Islands and high taxes also play a part.

In addition, oil industry critics, including Menor, blame high gasoline prices on oil companies exercising excessive market power to charge high prices.

Lawmakers passed the monitoring program after aborting an effort that capped Hawai'i's wholesale gasoline prices. That law, which linked Hawai'i's prices to Mainland prices, ultimately proved to be unpopular with the public and lawmakers amid perceptions the law caused higher, more volatile pump prices.

Implementation of the monitoring program has been delayed by a lack of expertise and money. Lawmakers initially only appropriated $1 for the program. An additional $1.2 million was budgeted for the program this year. The PUC then drafted reporting forms in consultation with local oil companies.

The deadline for the first monthly filing is today. That form, which covers July, will be followed by a Wednesday deadline for companies to file a weekly report for the seven days ended July 1.

By the end of August oil companies will have to file forms with data that retroactively date back to the beginning of the year. Deadlines for additional semiannual and annual filings have not been set yet.

Local oil industry officials have said they are willing to cooperate with the new law but are concerned about keeping their information confidential. Hawai'i's two oil refineries — which are operated by Chevron Corp. and Tesoro Corp. — both expect to file required forms this week, though at an unspecified higher cost.

Chevron reported that at least two people were working full-time to comply with PUC reporting requirements. Tesoro said the equivalent of three full-time marketing accounting employees and two refinery accounting employees were working to meet filing deadlines. Chevron said it would likely file one form late because of technical issues.

"It has been a very involved process for us," said Chevron spokesman Al Chee. "For the most part things have fallen into place," but "that's not to say it's easy."

Ultimately the data is likely to jibe with a state-sponsored report conducted by Stillwater Associates that found that Hawai'i refiners and gasoline sellers are profitable, but that Hawai'i consumers aren't being gouged, Chee said.

Conclusions about the profitability of Hawai'i's oil industry could be a matter of opinion.

"How do you determine what is fair and proper and who is going to determine that?" said Tesoro spokesman Nathan Hokama. "Who is going to be the person that decides what is an acceptable profit for the industry?"

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.