ORLANDO, Fla. – After reaching record highs, Florida gas prices have dropped, but it may not last.
New data from AAA shows the average price in Florida stands at $4.18 per gallon, down 20 cents in the last nine days.
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“Last weekend, oil prices dropped on demand concerns regarding a COVID outbreak in China, which resulted in lockdowns. By the end of the week, oil prices charged higher again as global crude supply concerns -- regarding the fallout from the Russia-Ukraine conflict -- moved back to the forefront,” Mark Jenkins with AAA said in a release. “Fortunately, oil prices are well below the high we saw more than a week ago. This should enable gas prices to slip lower this week, unless oil suddenly spikes again.”
Oil prices hit a low of $95.04 per barrel last Wednesday before going back up to $104.70 per barrel Friday.
AAA said oil prices as of Monday were $3 more per barrel than Friday’s cost, though below the record high reached $123.70 per barrel just two weeks ago.
Terry Rummel filled up at a Wawa in Winter Garden on Monday, saying it was the “cheapest” regular gas he could find.
“I watch it all the time because I spend a lot of time on the road so I’m always getting gas and if it comes down, it usually does a couple of pennies but when it goes up, it goes up 20, 25 cents,” Rummel said.
“Things are very volatile right now and they seem to be changing by the day, so the price that you see on that sign today might be completely different by the end of this week,” an AAA representative said.
President Joe Biden called out oil companies last week for not lowering prices more quickly, saying “oil and gas companies shouldn’t pad their profits at the expense of hard working Americans.”