Daytona Beach, FL - Gasoline prices keep on falling to levels that the locals haven't seen since around Bike Week and they could keep dropping until the time you cut the turkey later this month.
The latest fuel report from AAA shows an average of $2.57 per gallon of regular unleaded in the Daytona Beach area, 35 cents less than the mid grade and 65 cents less than premium.
At this point last month, regular was averaging out locally at $2.80. That's a difference of 23 cents, according to AAA spokesperson Mark Jenkins.
"The price of producing gasoline has dramatically declined during the past month, thanks to concerns of lower global demand and strong fuel supply and production," Jenkins added.
Florida's average is also $2.57, the lowest it's been since March. The lowest it's been so far in 2018 was $2.44 right around the New Year, per AAA stats.
Jenkins thinks it's possible that, barring some kind of drastic change in the market, gas prices could drop another 10 or 20 cents before the end of the year and fall below last year's levels by Thanksgiving.
Crude oil prices dropped for the fifth week in a row, falling to an 8-month low last week. Gas prices throughout the Sunshine State have also been on a downward trend for the past 36 days, including a 7-cent fall in the past week and 25 cents overall during that stretch.
Due in part to Hurricane Michael, the Panama City area has the highest gas average by metro area at $2.86, followed by Crestview ($2.75) and West Palm Beach-Boca Raton ($2.73). Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater ($2.42), Orlando ($2.45) and Punta Gorda ($2.48) make up the lowest metro averages in the state.
The national average has declined 20 cents during the past month to $2.70 a gallon, 14 cents higher than it was at this time last year.
