Gas prices in Florida are the lowest they have been since early March, a new report from AAA shows.
The average gallon of gas in Florida cost $3.21 on Sunday, down from $3.33 at the start of last week and below the national average of $3.56 a gallon.
“The state average has mostly declined for the past 34 days. During that time, the state average declined a total of 46 cents per gallon,” AAA noted.
Mark Jenkins, a spokesman for AAA and the Auto Club Group, offered some reasons why gas prices have been falling across the state.
“Gas prices are still following the downward momentum created by the seasonal downturn in fuel demand, coupled with stronger gasoline supplies and the switch to cheaper winter blend gasoline,” said Jenkins. “However, the continued streak of declines is threatened by a second week of rising oil and gasoline futures prices.”
“The U.S. price of oil logged a small 1 percent gain last week, amid ongoing concerns about the conflict between Israel and Hamas. In total, U.S. oil has risen 7 percent ($6 per barrel) over the past two weeks. Gasoline futures also rose 11 cents per gallon last week, for a total increase of nearly 20 cents in two weeks,” AAA noted.
The West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area had the most expensive gas in the state with an average of $3.45 a gallon, followed by Naples at $3.40 a gallon and Tallahassee at $3.39 a gallon.
Pensacola and Orlando had the least expensive gas in the state with both markets seeing an average of $3.12 a gallon, followed by the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area at $3.13 a gallon.