Scott Powers
Florida drivers got no relief at the pumps last week, but things also didn’t get any worse.
The average price for a gallon of gasoline across Florida held steady at $2.97, AAA — The Auto Club Group reported Monday morning. That’s the same as two weeks ago.
Florida drivers are paying an average of 4 cents per gallon less than a month ago, though 81 cents per gallon more than a year ago. The price is 43 cents per gallon more than on Aug. 1, 2019, in pre-pandemic times.
“July was the most expensive month at the pump since October 2014,” AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said in a news release. “Florida gas prices remain elevated due to tightening global supplies, as demand recovers from the pandemic. Florida gas prices averaged $2.99 per gallon, in July 2021. The monthly average was 89 cents more than what drivers paid in July 2020, and 35 cents more than July 2019.”
There remained a wide variance in gas prices in Florida, with some drivers, those in Punta Gorda, seeing pump prices averaging $2.88 a gallon, while others, those in Panama City, are paying an average of $3.12.
Nationally, the average price of a gallon of gasoline was $3.18, according to AAA.
The worldwide market is driving the high prices, AAA reported.
Just three weeks ago, the price for domestic crude reached a new 2021 high of $75.25 per barrel. That was the highest daily average price since October 2018. However, that price quickly dipped slightly, dropping 4%, to finish that week at $71.81 per barrel. The decline was in reaction to news OPEC and its allies plan to gradually return 5.8 million barrels a day of production, a partial restoration of reductions OPEC made last year in response to the coronavirus crisis and its drag on travel.
On Monday, the cheapest gas was in Punta Gorda, averaging $2.88; followed by Orlando and Jacksonville at $2.91; and Tampa Bay and Sarasota at $2.92, AAA reported.
The highest prices in Florida were found in Panama City and West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, averaging $3.12; and Tallahassee at $3.08.
Elsewhere, gasoline in Miami and Fort Myers averaged $2.98; Pensacola, $3.00; and Fort Lauderdale, $3.01.
