Gas prices could rise 5 to 10 cents
But jump may not last long, AAA says
Gas prices never fell back to prehurricane levels despite declining for 47 straight days after Irma and Harvey, and now they’re headed up again.
But the reversal might be shortlived, AAA said in its weekly gasprice update.
The average retail price for unleaded regular in Florida was $2.40 on Monday — unchanged compared to a week earlier. A year ago Monday, motorists were paying $2.20.
Rising demand is to blame for this week’s expected gas-price increases of 5 to 10 cents a gallon, AAA said. Americans consumed an average 9.45 million barrels of gasoline per day in October — the highest for that month since 2006.
Traders drove wholesale gasoline and oil prices higher for the week on that news. West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed at $55.64 on Friday — a $4 jump compared to two weeks earlier and the highest close since July 2015. Wholesale gasoline prices rose an average 7 cents in the southeastern U.S. last week.
AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said prices should rise this week but he doesn’t see the trend continuing through the holiday season.
"Drivers are seeing pump prices increase in some markets, due to higher demand and falling supply levels," Jenkins said. "It would not be a surprise to see gas prices rise 5-10 cents this week, since wholesale prices rose an average of 7 cents last week. However, longterm fall gasoline demand is expected to drop in November, which should prevent any significant spike in gas prices before the end of the year."
But Jenkins did not project that prices would resume declining as 2017 draws to a close.
That could end prospects for prices to return to the $2.31 average Florida motorists were paying on Aug. 25 — before Hurricane Harvey disrupted refinery operations in the Gulf Coast and Hurricane Irma triggered massive consumer stockpiling across the state. Supply-and-demand pressures from the two storms quickly pushed average pump prices to a high of $2.73 on Sept. 9.
Here’s the good news for Floridians: Monday’s $2.40 statewide average was well below the national average of $2.53. So we have that going for us.
The least expensive prices
across Florida’s metro regions were in Tampa-St. Petersburg [$2.26], Orlando [$2.30], and Jacksonville [$2.33].
As usual, the highest average prices were in South Florida -- $2.56 in Palm Beach County, $2.55 in Miami-Dade County; and $2.49 in Broward County. South Florida prices tend to be higher than the rest of the state because of higher local taxes and a higher cost of operating in the region, analysts say.
Of course, in a competitive market like South Florida, motorists need not pay the average price. Not when they have access to GasBuddy.com, a website and app that posts real-time price reports from users. The site’s map mode reveals pockets where prices are most competitive.
In Broward County, prices are lowest along North Federal Highway between Hillsboro Boulevard in Deerfield Beach and West Atlantic Boulevard. Eleven gas stations along that stretch were selling gas at $2.31 a gallon or less, according to GasBuddy.com. Further south, motorists could also find gas for $2.31 at five stations on West Broward Boulevard between University Drive and South Andrews Avenue.
Palm Beach County motorists have to head north to find two competitive clusters: In Lake Park, seven gas stations were priced at $2.28 or less along Northlake Boulevard between Old Dixie Highway and U.S. 1 and on U.S. 1 just south of Northlake Boulevard. In Palm Springs, meanwhile, GasBuddy was showing three gas stations selling at $2.29 or less along Lake Worth Road between Harverhill Road and South Congress Avenue.
In Miami-Dade County, nine stations in Miami Gardens were selling gas priced at $2.33 or less. They were all located on U.S. 441 between Northwest 215th Street.