Gas prices in Florida had a bumpy ride last week, moving up 7 cents a gallon before slipping towards the weekend.
On Sunday, according to a new study from AAA, the average gallon of gas in Florida cost $2.48, up four cents from the week before. That’s well below the national average of $2.65 a gallon and more than 30 cents below at this time last year when Hurricane Michael was impacting the Sunshine State.
Despite last week’s price hike, Florida drivers are still paying 32 cents per gallon less than they did in the spring,” said Matt Nasworthy, the Florida public affairs director for AAA and the Auto Club Group, on Monday. “Fortunately, the state average has declined one cent per day since Friday, and could drift below $2.45 this week.”
The West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area had the most expensive gas in Florida with an average of $2.58 a gallon followed by Panama City at $2.56 a gallon and Gainesville at $2.53 a gallon.
Pensacola had the least expensive gas in the state with prices averaging $2.43 a gallon followed by Jacksonville and Orlando which both saw an average of $2.44 a gallon in their respective markets.
As Nasworthy said, AAA expects lower prices in the days to come.
“In its latest weekly report, the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) data revealed that gas demand is starting to decline – as is typically the case during the fall. For the week ending on September 27, demand moved from 9.34 million b/d to 9.13 million b/d, which is the same rate seen at the end of September 2018. Alongside the drop in demand, gasoline supply levels held relatively stable from 230.2 million bbl the previous week to 230 million bbl. The drop in demand, amid stable stock levels, has helped the majority of motorists across the country see pump prices stabilize or decline,” AAA noted.