MIAMI – After remaining in a certain range for months, Florida gas prices have ticked up.
Since early September, the state’s average has mostly hovered between $2.99 and $3.15 a gallon.
However, during the past two weeks, the state average exceeded $3.20 per gallon. On Monday, the state average was $3.21 per gallon, two cents more than a week ago, and a dime more than a month ago.
Across the state, prices ranged from $2.90 a gallon in the panhandle to $3.35 a gallon in the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area, according to AAA.
In Miami-Dade, the average was $3.17 a gallon, in Broward the average was $3.20.
“Drivers will likely continue to see gas prices fluctuate through the week, but there doesn’t currently appear to be any significant measure of relief on the way as of now,” said AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins.
So what caused the increase? Oil prices.
The price of U.S. crude oil rose to a three-month high of $76.57 on Jan. 10th, a 4% increase from the week before. Crude oil increased another 2% the week of Jan. 17th. Last week, however, U.S. crude took a back step, settling at $74.66 per barrel – a 4% drop from the week before, according to AAA.
