State’s Sept. gas prices highest since 2014

September gasoline prices in Florida were the highest they’ve been since 2014, AAA reported Monday.

And the cost of fuel could be heading considerably higher, experts warn, because of tensions over sanctions on Iran and growing demand for oil as the U.S. economy booms.

Last week, the average price of price in Florida jumped by 10 cents to $2.82, AAA reported. In Orlando on Monday, the average price was $2.79.

“Concerns about how sanctions against Iranian crude will impact global oil supply began to weigh on the market last week,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman for AAA — The Auto Club Group. “Crude oil prices climbed and dragged gasoline prices higher as a result.’’

Jenkins added, “however, low seasonal gasoline demand and a cheaper-to-produce winter-blend gasoline should offset some of that upward pressure.”

For the entire month of September, the auto club said Florida’s average price was $2.77.

In 2017, the Florida September average was $2.68; in 2016, it was $2.18; and in 2015 it was $2.20. The price spiked to $3.32 in 2014.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that a rally in oil has led to talk of $100 a barrel. The third-quarter price for benchmark brent crude oil jumped 4.1 percent during the third quarter to $82.72 a barrel.

The Trump administration’s decision to reimpose sanctions by canceling the nuclear agreement with Iran could lead to as much as 1 million barrels of oil being taken off the world market, the Journal reported. That cutback, with continuing economic growth in the U.S. and elsewhere, has prompted some speculators to bet on higher oil prices moving forward.