Fuel gets cheaper

AAA: Average $2.15 for holiday travel

Gas prices in Florida dropped another 5 cents last week.

Rising demand doesn’t always lead to higher prices.

Even though travel club AAA says this may be the most heavily traveled July 4 holiday weekend in history, prices at the pump fell another 5 cents in Florida and 3 cents nationally over the past week.

The average price for a gallon of unleaded regular in Florida on Monday was $2.15. Nationwide, the average was $2.23.

Sub-$2 prices were rampant across metro regions including Tampa, Orlando, Melbourne and Vero Beach. Three stations in the Largo area of Pinellas County were competing at $1.89.

The falling prices are helping to fuel what AAA says could be a record number of holiday motorists. Nationwide, 37.5 million Americans were expected to drive to their July 4 destinations over the long holiday period that began Friday. That’s a 2.9 percent increase over last year.

The monthlong gas-price freefall is a result of skidding crude oil prices in global markets over the past month, spurred by increased drilling production in the U.S. The declines might be nearing an end; a rebound in crude oil futures that began last week continued on Monday.

A barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude was trading at $47.09 on the New York Mercantile Exchange late Monday afternoon — the eighth straight day of higher prices after crude dropped to $42.74 on June 22. One reason: a report on Thursday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration that drilling activity in the U.S. dropped by two rigs — the first pullback since January.

Meanwhile, the per-gallon price in Broward County on Monday was $2.22, 5 cents less than a week earlier. Motorists in MiamiDade County were paying an average of $2.25, a 3-cent drop compared with the previous Monday. Palm Beach County’s $2.27 average price on Monday was also 3 cents less than a week earlier.

The lowest gas prices in the region could be found west of Interstate 95 in the West Palm Beach area — $1.99 at nine gas stations along Southern Boulevard, Belvedere Road and Okeechobee Boulevard, according to GasBuddy.com.

Broward County motorists could find gas for $2.04 a gallon at two stations along North Federal Highway in Pompano Beach — a Valero at the intersection with East Atlantic Boulevard and a Citgo at Northeast Sixth Street.

The lowest reported price in Miami-Dade County was $2.03 at Sunshine Gas on Northwest 183rd Street and Douglas Road in Miami Gardens.