Gas prices surge to highest level this year as oil rises to $81 a barrel

Mondays are a good day for gas price sticker shock with some stations in Florida jumping more than 20 cents from their Sunday prices, in the latest surge that has caused the state’s average price to climb to its highest of the year so far.

According to data maintained by AAA, the average price of a tank of regular gas on Tuesday rose to more than $3.74 a gallon. That’s a 48-cent climb since July 4 weekend that had a statewide average of $3.26. It marks the highest average price for 2023 so far, although still less than where gas prices were a year ago at $3.91 a gallon.

Monday’s reported average was $3.67, but by midmorning, several stations across the state were already advertising jumps in prices that were 20 to 30 cents higher.

A similar jump happened two weeks back when the statewide average was reported at $3.46 through Monday morning, already a 20-cent climb from the previous week, and then shot up more than 20 cents across the state at several stations from Monday into Tuesday.

AAA spokesperson Mark Jenkins said the Monday climb is something he’s seen quite often, usually by Monday afternoon.

“As the saying goes, ‘gas prices rise like a rocket and fall like a feather,’ and unfortunately, 20-cent increases are not entirely uncommon,” he wrote in an email.

On Monday, Jenkins wrote in his gas price report the main driver for the recent hikes have been oil prices, noting they had risen 15% in the previous five weeks leading to an increase in the price of gasoline production.

At its low point in July, U.S. prices for oil were around $70 a barrel, Jenkins said. It closed at $81.80 on Monday.

Jenkins cited data from the Oil Price Information Service noting its prices were climbing because of strong economic data that raises expectations for fuel demand.

“Additionally, record-breaking heat has led to some refinery outages along the Gulf Coast, leading to reductions in fuel output,” Jenkins wrote. “The latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows refinery operations in the Gulf Coast last week at 93.3%. That’s down 1.5 percentage points from the previous week and significantly lower than the 97% rate refineries were operating at last year.”

Nationally, the average price as of Tuesday morning was $3.78.

Central Florida’s prices fall in the middle range statewide with Orlando at $3.78, Daytona Beach at $3.76, Melbourne-Titusville at $3.73 and Lakeland-Winter Haven at $3.75.

Across Florida, the most expensive regions are West PalmBoca Raton at $3.85, Naples at $3.79 and Port St. Lucie at $3.77.

The cheapest are in the Panhandle with Pensacola at $3.53, Crestview-Fort Walton Beach at $3.55. and Panama City at $3.57.