AAA announced on Monday that Florida is seeing its lowest prices at the pump so far this year, even as almost 2.8 million Floridians plan to hit the road for Thanksgiving.
The average gallon of gas in the Sunshine State cost $3.08 on Sunday, down from $3.23 at the start of last week. The national average stood at $3.37 a gallon on Sunday.
Last year, Floridians saw the average gallon of gas in the state cost $3.41 on Thanksgiving.
“More than half of Florida gas stations now have gasoline priced below $3 a gallon,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA and the Auto Club Group. “While there could be some fluctuations in the coming weeks, AAA expects gas prices to remain low through the holidays unless oil prices suddenly spike.”
“The plummeting price of oil has been a big contributor to the recent plunge at the pump. Crude oil fell from $93 a barrel in late September to $72/b last week. During that same time, the state average dropped from $3.69 per gallon to $3.04/g,” AAA noted.
The West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area had the most expensive gas in the state, with an average of $3.28 a gallon, followed by Naples at $3.19 a gallon and Tallahassee at $3.17 a gallon.
Pensacola had the least expensive gas in the state on Sunday at $2.88 a gallon, followed by the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach area at $2.90 a gallon and Panama City at $2.98 a gallon.