Gas prices plunge to a 2-year low

Here are South Florida’s cheapest stations

Gas prices have plunged to a two-year low and are expected to stay low through the holidays, travel club AAA said Monday in its weekly Gas Price Update.

It remains to be seen how a sudden oil price jolt Monday could affect that forecast.

Sunday’s average in Florida was $2.86 after dropping 31 cents over the past 17 days, AAA reported.

AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins attributed the drop to strong domestic gasoline supplies and low oil prices, saying, “Pump prices are falling at the perfect time as more than 6 million Floridians prepare to take a road trip for the year-end holidays.”

He noted an uptick in oil prices last week but said “AAA expects gas prices to remain low through the holidays.”

But Monday morning oil traders had driven the price of U.S.-drilled oil up from $68.25 a barrel on Wednesday to nearly $74 after BP paused oil shipments through the Red Sea to avoid drone and missile attacks by the Houthi armed rebel group in Yemen.

That prompted fears that oil companies might stop shipping oil through the Suez Canal, a major global conduit.

Still, $74-a-barrel oil is far below the year’s high of $93.68 set in September, and the five-year high of $118.87 set in June 2022 as western nations launched an embargo of Russian-drilled oil following that nation’s invasion of Ukraine.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at the price-comparison website GasBuddy.com, said oil prices were also impacted last week by comments from the Federal Reserve suggesting that interest rate cuts could begin in 2024, “boosting optimism that oil demand will grow next year.”

De Haan noted that diesel fuel prices fell below $4 for the first time since July, which he called “very welcome news for the economy as nearly all goods are impacted by the price of diesel.”

He suggested that 2024 could be “gentler” at the pump for motorists.

The national average price for gasoline has dropped for 13 straight weeks to $3.03 a gallon and could fall below $3 for the first time in years, GasBuddy reported.

Although Florida’s average gas price was $2.86, a price war was brewing in northern Palm Beach County on Monday as stations competed to offer the lowest prices in the state.

The lowest, $2.33, could be found at Rocket Fuel at 100 N. Federal Highway in North Palm Beach, GasBuddy’s price charts showed.

Texaco at 140 U.S. Highway 1 in Lake Park was next-lowest at $2.35, followed in North Palm Beach by Shell, 9009 Prosperity Farms Road and Chevron, 819 Northlake Blvd., both at $2.37.

In Broward County five stations on State Road 7 in Lauderhill and

Lauderdale Lakes were selling for $2.55 a gallon:

In Lauderdale Lakes the stations are BP, 2099 N. State Road 7; Chevron, 2400 N. State Road 7; Exxon, 2599 N. State Road 7; Shell, 1901 N. State Road 7; and in Lauderhill, Chevron at 1601 N. State Road 7 also was selling for $2.55.

In Miami-Dade Countyss four stations in Florida City were selling gas for $2.59 a gallon: Circle K, 970 W. Palm Dr.; Chevron, 893 W. Palm Drive; Valero, 961 W. Palm Drive; and Mobil, 16 N. Krome Ave.