Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Florida is again setting new records, but not ones that are good, according to the latest release from the American Automotive Association (AAA).
On Monday, May 16, the AAA reported that the state’s average price for gasoline had reached a new record high of $4.49 per gallon on the previous day.
According to the AAA, Sunday’s price beat the previous record of $4.38 per gallon, which was set in March, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Before that, the record high had been $4.08 per gallon, set in 2008.
Florida’s average gas price, in fact, jumped 30 cents in the past week, making it $1.60 more than a year earlier, according to the AAA. The group reports that it now costs $67 to fill a 15-gallon vehicle with gas, up more than $24 from the same time a year ago.
"Drivers are dealing with unprecedented pain at the pump and things could soon get worse before they get better," said Mark Jenkins, spokesman for AAA - The Auto Club Group. "We saw more big gains in the gasoline futures market late last week, which could trickle down to yet another 10-20 cent jump at the pump in the near future."
Accounting for the rising gas prices are several factors, according to the AAA. These include:
• Tight global fuel supplies that are keeping upward pressure on oil prices, given that they make up more than half the price of gasoline.
• The price of U.S. oil also is high, closing at $110.49 per barrel on the previous Friday, which represented a 69 percent increase over the previous year.
• Heading into 2022, oil-producing countries had not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, even as consumer demand rebounded.
• Russia’s invasion of Ukraine compounded the problem when it was cut of the oil market for its aggression, given that it is one of the world’s largest oil exporters.
• Recent news that the EU plans to ban Russian oil by the end of 2022 further accelerated fuel price increases. That’s because these countries, which rely heavily on Russian fuels, will now be competing to find alternative sources in an already tight global fuel market.
If that’s not enough, U.S. gasoline supplies recently declined by six percent, at the same time that international demand for U.S. gasoline exports rose 20 percent. And the kicker is that the summer travel season is about to begin, with experts expecting vacations that involve driving season to be stronger than the previous year’s.
"Unfortunately, $4 gasoline is likely to be that unwelcomed passenger on most Florida summer road trips," Jenkins said. "At this point, the state average is not expected to exceed $5 a gallon. However, the fuel market is extremely unstable and things are changing by the day. Either way, drivers should expect gas prices to keep fluctuating throughout the summer and potentially the rest of the year."
Nationally, the per-gallon cost of unleaded gas averaged $4.57 on Wednesday, May 18, with prices across the country ranging from $6.05 at the high end, to $4.19 at the low end.
In Florida, the average was $4.51 per gallon, with prices ranging from $4.65 at the high end, to $4.34 at the low end. In Jefferson County, the average price was $4.65.
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