With Floridians kicking off summer over the Memorial Day weekend, they saw record-high gas prices even as 2 million of them hit the road for the holiday.
According to a report from AAA, on Monday, the average gallon of gas in Florida cost $4.57, up nine cents from the start of last week and below the national average of $4.62.
Memorial Day gas prices were officially the holiday’s most expensive on record. The state average price of $4.57 per gallon was $1.71 per gallon more than last year’s holiday and well above the previous Memorial Day high of $3.93 per gallon – set in 2008.
Florida gas prices are now 60 percent more expensive than what drivers paid this time last year. The average Floridian is now paying about $68 to fill an average 15-gallon tank. That’s $25 more for a fill-up than a year ago.
“Gas prices appeared to level out over the weekend, but there’s renewed upward pressure on pump prices after an active week on the oil market both last week and overnight,” said Mark Jenkins, a spokesman for AAA and the Auto Club Group. “Tightness in the global fuel market has kept a high floor on fuel prices. The price of oil traded higher overnight after the European Union announced a partial ban on Russian oil imports. The region, which is historically reliant on Russian oil and gas, will now have to find alternative suppliers, in what is already an extremely tight fuel market. The longer oil prices remain elevated, the longer American drivers will endure this unprecedented pain at the pump.”
On Friday, the U.S. price of oil closed at $115.07 per barrel. That’s 2 percent more than the week before, yet $8.63/b (7 percent) less than this year’s high of $123.70 – set back in March.
The West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area saw the most expensive gas in the state with an average of $4.71 a gallon followed by Naples at $4.61 a gallon and Fort Lauderdale at $4.60 a gallon.
The Crestview-Fort Walton Beach area had the least expensive gas in the state with an average of $4.36 a gallon followed by Pensacola at $4.38 a gallon and Panama City at $4.40 a gallon.
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