Scott Powers
The average price of a gallon of gasoline, which shot upward in the first full week in October, remained at recent high-mark levels Monday, around $3.18.
That’s according to AAA — The Auto Club Group, which reported the price was up about a half penny compared to the previous Monday, after surging the week before.
And it could get worse.
Crude and gasoline futures prices rose again last week, setting new 2021 highs with a 4% increase. Friday’s settlement of $82.28 per barrel was $3 more than the week before. Meanwhile gasoline futures prices increased 12 cents on the NYMEX. Wholesale gasoline prices reached a level that — if sustained — could drag the state average above $3.20 per gallon.
“It appears the pain at the pump is going to get worse before it gets better,” AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said in a news release. “Florida drivers are likely to face another round of rising prices, as global supply concerns keep upward pressure on the price of crude. It’s unclear when the relief at the pump will come, but these elevated prices at the pump are likely to linger through the winter months.”
AAA said the reason prices keep rising — and could remain elevated through the winter — is due to a natural gas shortage affecting Asia and Europe, where natural gas prices have skyrocketed. That forced countries there to turn to what was already an extremely tight crude oil market for electricity and heating.
Gas prices averaged $3.33 per gallon across the U.S. Monday morning, according to AAA surveys.
Drivers in Punta Gorda are getting off easiest, with gas prices around $3.10. The average price in Jacksonville is $3.12; Orlando, $3.13; and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, $3.14.
Hit hardest are drivers in West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, where the pumps read $3.35 per gallon; Panama City, $3.23; and Miami and Fort Lauderdale, $3.22.
One comment
Evan Miller
October 18, 2021 at 12:31 pm
I seem to remember gas prices hovering the $2.00 per gallon mark during the last administration.
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