According to a new study from AAA, gas prices continue to drop in the Sunshine State.
On Sunday, the average gallon of gas in Florida cost $4.27, down 15 cents from the start of last week. The state average is now on a 5-week streak of declines, falling a total of 62 cents per gallon. The national average stood at $4.53 a gallon on Sunday, from $4.68 at the start of last week.
“For the first time in a couple months, drivers in some Florida cities are beginning to find pump prices below $4 a gallon,” said Mark Jenkins, a spokesman for AAA and the Auto Club Group. “Oil prices suffered significant drops last week, clearing the way for additional discounts at the pump. Although global supplies remain an ongoing concern, the EIA reported a steep drop in domestic gasoline demand. While this might be an anomaly, the market is taking it as an indicator that Americans could be shifting driving habits in response to high prices. Meanwhile, concerns about a new strain of COVID-19 and potential lockdowns in China, have reenergized global demand concerns.
“Drivers are likely relieved to get a break from record-high prices, and prices could get even cheaper this week,” Jenkins continued. “However, it’s important to remember that the market remains extremely volatile, and prices have the potential to bounce back. That particularly applies to hurricane season. If a major storm makes landfall along the gulf coast, impacting operations at refineries in Texas, Louisiana, or Mississippi, prices could spike, due to concerns about fuel supplies.”
Last week, the U.S. price of oil dropped nearly $10 a barrel, but recovered a couple bucks by the end of the week. Friday’s closing price of $97.59 per barrel is $7.20 per barrel (7 percent) less than the week before. That’s a far cry from where oil prices were a little more than a month ago. On June 8, the U.S. price of oil settled at a monthly high of 122.11/b. That drove the state average to a new record high of $4.89 per gallon. As a reminder, the price of oil accounts for about half the price of gasoline. When oil prices drop, so do gas prices.
The West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area had the most expensive gas in the state with an average of $4.52 a gallon followed by Naples at $4.51 a gallon and Fort Lauderdale at $4.38 a gallon.
Three markets–Sebring, the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach area and the Melbourne-Titusville region–all had the least expensive gas in the state with all of them seeing an average of $4.08 a gallon.
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