Price of gasoline soars to nearly 7-year high

The price of gasoline soared 12 cents per gallon in Florida in the past week, reaching a level on Sunday not seen in nearly seven years.

According to AAA — The Auto Club Group, Florida drivers were paying an average of $2.97 per gallon on Sunday, up from $2.85 the previous Sunday.

The cost of a gallon of gasoline is well over $3 a gallon in parts of South Florida and the Panhandle. The best deal seen in the Sunshine State on Sunday was in Punta Gorda, where gas averaged $2.93 per gallon, according to AAA.

The price surge, seen nationwide, follows significant gains in the prices of crude oil and gasoline futures, as the recovery in global fuel demand outpaces supply, the auto club group reported Monday morning. Across the U.S., the average price was $3.08 per gallon on Sunday.

The average Florida pump price is the highest since November 2014. The state average of $2.97 is seven cents more than a month ago, and 44 cents more than this time in 2019. Pump prices are now averaging six cents more than the previous 2021 high — set back in March. It is also five cents more than the highest price in 2018.

“It now costs $2 more to fill an average-sized 15-gallon gas tank than it did a week ago,” AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins stated in a news release. “Fortunately, futures prices flattened out last week, so drivers should not face another round of rising prices this week.”

Orlando, Fort Myers, and Jacksonville drivers saw prices at $2.94 at the pumps; St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and Miami, $2.95; Tampa, and Pensacola, $2.96; Fort Myers, $2.98; Fort Lauderdale, $2.99; Panama City, $3.06; and West Palm Beach, $3.08.

AAA reports the recent jump at the pump has largely been driven by the rising price of crude oil. The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts in the June release of its Short-Term Energy Outlook that global crude oil prices will stabilize in mid-2021, then average $8 per barrel less in 2022.

“In the coming months, we expect global oil production to catch up with the increases we’ve seen in demand in 2021,” EIA Acting Administrator Stephen Nalley said. “U.S. and global oil producers are increasing their production, which should help moderate oil prices that have increased significantly as global economic concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic have begun to ease.”