Average gas price tops $3.50 in Florida

Gas prices continue their upward climb, topping $3.50 per gallon in Florida Monday for the first time since 2014.

The winter surge has been amplified by the Ukraine-Russia tensions, AAA — The Auto Club Group cautioned in its weekly survey of Florida’s gas market, with the prospect that war there could shut down Russia’s supplies to western Europe.

Yet late last week also saw the first global decline in crude oil prices in six weeks, as the markets may be adjusting. After reaching a 2022 high of $95.46 per barrel on Monday, the prices slipped from there, finishing last week about $2 per barrel lower than the week before. That should amount to a 5-penny savings per gallon of gasoline, AAA explained.

Yet Florida’s statewide average did not decline as a result. Sunday’s average, fractions of a penny over $3.50 per gallon, is 5 cents higher than a week earlier and 90 cents more than this time last year, AAA reported.

“It’s hard to get too excited about the recent oil price drop, because prices could easily rebound if Russia invades Ukraine,” said AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins in a news release Monday morning. “If an invasion occurs and oil prices spike, that will most certainly drag gas prices higher too. To what degree, it’s still unclear.”

Nationally, the average price of a gallon of gasoline was $3.53 Monday, AAA reported. The last time gasoline was this expensive was in July 2014. The record high nationally was recorded in July 2008, at $4.11. Florida’s price peaked that month at $4.08.

Crestview-Fort Walton Beach drivers were finding the best deals Monday, with gas averaging about $3.42 per gallon. In Panama City, the average price was $3.44; Punta Gorda, Tallahassee and Pensacola were at $3.45; Jacksonville was at $3.46; Miami and Sarasota were at $3.48; and St. Petersburg, Tampa and Orlando were at $3.49.

Drivers in West Palm Beach-Boca Raton were paying the most, with gas averaging $3.63 per gallon Monday. That was followed by Fort Lauderdale and Gainesville at $3.53.