Florida gas prices down 21 cents a gallon even as oil costs hit 2023 highs
Even as oil prices rise to their highest levels of the year, gasoline prices are falling.
The average price of a gallon of unleaded gas in Florida fell 12 cents a gallon to $3.48 over the past week, travel club AAA said in its weekly gas price update. Over the past two weeks, the price has fallen 21 cents a gallon and is poised to drop even further this week.
At the same time, the price of U.S.-based crude oil has been bouncing around $90 a barrel as Saudi Arabia and Russia held the line on production cuts. But that price has stalled amid concerns about effects on demand from further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve Board, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for the price-comparison website GasBuddy.com.
U.S.-based crude oil was trading at $89.52 a barrel early Monday afternoon on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That’s down from $93.68, the highest closing price of 2023, set on Wednesday.
The reduction in global oil inventories could become a problem in 2024 if the Fed starts to ease its tight monetary policy, “but for now,” De Haan said, “motorists need not be in any rush: lower gas prices are on the way for every U.S. state in the weeks ahead.”
AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins noted that gasoline demand in the U.S. has fallen while gas production has increased compared to a year ago. Falling demand and rising inventories typically work together to bring prices down, and that’s reflected in an 18-cent drop in the per-gallon price of gasoline futures, “which should signal another round of falling prices at the pump this week,” Jenkins said.
Average prices in South Florida, which tend to exceed the statewide average because of the higher cost of doing business here, were $3.56 in Broward County, $3.70 in Palm Beach County, and $3.54 in Miami-Dade County, according to AAA.
Bargain hunters, however, never pay the average price.
GasBuddy’s price-comparison charts and maps reveal the lowest prices in Broward on Monday were $3.24 at 7-Eleven, 1554 S. Federal Highway in Dania Beach and $3.25 at BP, 3401 Griffin Road, Dania Beach. A number of stations in Davie were also selling gas for $3.27 and $3.28.
In Palm Beach County, motorists were paying $3.27 at Rocket Fuel at 100 N. Federal Highway in North Palm Beach, and $3.28 at Wawa, 1201 W. Lantana Road, in Lantana, and Mobil, 7031 Jog Road in Lake Worth.
Miami-Dade County drivers had it even better on Monday. They were paying $3.19 a gallon at three stations in Hialeah Gardens: Murphy USA, 9203 NW 77th Ave., Exxon, 8314 NW 103rd St., and Wawa, 7878 NW 103rd St.
Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071, on Twitter @ronhurtibise or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.