Gasoline prices in Florida are rising amid rising global oil prices. On Monday, they increased 4 cents over the past week to an average of $3.50 a gallon.
According to data from the AAA auto club, the state’s average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas was 3 cents lower than the national average.
Average prices in Florida ranged from $3.24 in the Panama City area to $3.71 in the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area. AAA noted that demand for gas nationally decreased during the past week, which typically would contribute to lower prices or a slower increase.
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But that wasn’t enough to offset rising global oil prices after drone attacks on Russian refineries and the reduced possibility of near-term peace in the war between Israel and Hamas.
Meanwhile, the industry continues converting to the more expensive summer blend of gasoline, and refineries have undergone scheduled maintenance. Florida’s average price on Monday was 11 cents a gallon higher than a year ago. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, expects the increased price trend to break in the coming weeks.
“The madness should slow down in the next few weeks as we’ve seen positive data that refinery output is starting to increase, a sign that the peak of maintenance season could be behind us,” De Haan said in a blog.
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