AAA: Florida Gas Prices Hit 20-Month High; Oil Prices Hit 3-Week Lows

Florida - The American Automobile Association (AAA) said that Florida's gas prices recently hit a 20-month high and oil prices hit 3-week lows. An April 23 Gas Price Brief from AAA reports that Florida's average gas price reached $2.47 on Friday, April 22, which was the highest daily average since August 2015. Prices declined fractions of a penny on both Saturday and Sunday, but remain 4 cents more than last week and 38 cents more than this time last year.

• The most expensive metro markets are: West Palm Beach/Boca Raton ($2.54), Fort Lauderdale ($2.48), and Miami ($2.47).
• The least expensive metro markets are Pensacola ($2.40), Tallahassee ($2.42), and Jacksonville ($2.45).

Current and Past Price Averages (regular unleaded gasoline) 

The current average price for regular unleaded gasoline in Daytona Beach is $2.46

"Falling oil and wholesale gas prices should push pump prices lower this week," said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA - The Auto Club Group. "However, oil prices have been fickle this year, so motorists should expect continued volatility in the next couple of months as oil prices fluctuate, demand rises, and refineries complete the switchover to more expensive summer blends." Oil prices hit 3-week lows as crude oil prices declined $3 last week, settling at $49.62 on Friday - the lowest daily settlement since March 29. AAA reports that the decreases over last week's settlement came amid news that Russia said it would be willing to extend its cut to crude oil production that was agreed upon with OPEC last year. However, according to the American Petroleum Institute, demand continues to grow steadily, with total U.S. petroleum deliveries in March reaching their highest point for this time of the year since 2008. AAA's report states that OPEC, Russia and other producers agreed to cut production by 1.8 million barrels per day during the first half of the year. They will reconvene on May 25 to discuss the potential of extending the agreement through the 2nd half of 2017. Analysts are pessimistic the extension will carry based on concerns that OPEC would lose market share to the United States, whose shale oil sector has helped push domestic inventories to record levels. The following 'Fuel Fundamentals' provided by AAA are based on weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

• Crude oil prices declined $3 last week, settling at $49.62 on Friday, April 21 - the lowest daily settlement since March 29.
• Wholesale gasoline prices are 10 cents less than a week ago.
• U.S. crude inventories decline 0.10 percent to 1.2 million barrels
• Domestic crude production rose 17 barrels a day to 9.3 million
• Gasoline demand declined by o.56 percent
• Gasoline inventories remain slightly lower than last year; but climbed more than a half percent compared to the week before
• Gasoline production rose 1.4 percent, eclipsing year-ago levels
• Refineries increased capacity 4 percentage points, surpassing year-ago levels

Check current and past average gasoline prices here. Motorists can find the lowest gas prices in their area by downloading the AAA Mobile app here. AAA updates fuel price average daily here. Photos and charts courtesy of AAA. Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2017.