Local gas prices drop by a dime

Gas prices in the Orlando area continue to march downward, dropping by a dime during the last week.

A gallon of regular unleaded fuel is now selling for an average of $2.32 in the Orlando metropolitan area, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge report. That’s 13 cents below the national average of $2.45 and 10 cents below the Florida average. The national average dropped 1.6 cents in the last week.

Demand for gasoline continues to be weak nationally after the end of the summer driving season and stability in oil prices. Even after threats by OPEC nations to again tighten oil supplies, a barrel of crude is selling for just over $52 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

“There’s more room to come down,” said AAA Florida spokesman Mark Jenkins. “Gas prices fall like a feather and rise like a rocket.”

Never has that been more evident than with hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Gas prices shot up 54 cents a gallon in 17 days, peaking at $2.71 between Sept. 7 and 16.

Since the peak, prices have dropped 40 cents a gallon, or about a penny a day.

“Prices were inflated after Harvey, and they are still slightly inflated based on where oil is,” Jenkins said. “The good thing is that the driving season is behind us and that puts less of a strain on suppliers.”

The Orlando region, as well as the Tampa area, have historically been the cheapest in Florida because of close proximity to ports and pipelines, Jenkins said. For instance, the average price in Miami is $2.59 a gallon and $2.38 in Jacksonville.

In Central Florida, there also is steep competition from national competitors Wawa, 7-Eleven and RaceTrack, which can buy their own unbranded gasoline and try to undercut competitors.

That results in rocky gas prices in the Orlando area. Prices here often drop below the national average for a few weeks by as much as 20 cents. Then prices shoot back up to match the rest of the state. The cycle then repeats.

Jenkins said oil prices may be 5 to 10 cents too high based on crude oil prices.

The Department of Energy reported oil supplies and production were down slightly during the last week. Gasoline supply is still up slightly, while demand is down about 3.6 percent from the previous week, continuing to deflate gas prices.

Gas prices are still higher than the $2.17 best of August, but consumers should be happy there has been more than three years of fuel stability, said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.

The national average for gasoline has been below $3 a gallon for more than three years now and doesn’t look like it will break that mark in the coming months.

“In fact, the national average may continue to decline for a few weeks before leveling off as gasoline inventories continue to heal after Harvey,” DeHaan said.

Local gas prices are slightly higher than a year ago, when a gallon of regular unleaded sold for $2.19.