Local gas prices drop again

Man pumping gas into car
Max kegfire via Shutterstock

While national gas prices have started to surge, Florida and the Gainesville area saw another drop for the fifth straight week.

Statewide, the cost per gallon of gas decreased seven cents to $3.37 and locally the price is down from $3.46 last week to $3.37, according to the AAA weekly report sent Thursday.

Heading into Memorial Day weekend, the seasonal travel surge has resulted in the national average rising four cents since last week to $3.57. AAA projects that the Memorial Day road trips will increase 6% from last year with over 37 million Americans driving this holiday weekend to their destinations.

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“The rise in demand for gasoline is helping to push pump prices higher for now,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson, in the press release. “But the increase is mitigated by the low cost of oil, which is wobbling around in the low $70s per barrel. Pump prices could stabilize or fall once this long weekend is in the rearview mirror.”

Data from Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed gas demand increased from 8.91 to 9.43 million barrels per day (b/d) last week. The rising demand helped boost pump prices. Domestically, gasoline stocks decreased by 2 million barrels of crude oil (bbl) to 216.3 million bbl. If gas demand increases amid tighter supplies, pump prices will likely rise.

Thursday’s national average of $3.57 is four cents more than last week’s $3.53. Last month, the national average was at $3.65 per gallon and last year it was at $4.59.

Florida has the 15th least expensive average in the U.S. at $3.37 per gallon, down seven cents from last week’s $3.44. A month ago, the average cost was $3.70; last year it was $4.57.   

According to gasbuddy.com, here are the lowest prices to fill up in Alachua County:   

  • $3.14 at Murphy Express, 6323 NW 23rd St., Gainesville
  • $3.14 at Circle K, 4565 NW 13th St., Gainesville
  • $3.16 at Sunoco, 4207 NW 13th St., Gainesville
  • $3.16 at Circle K, 5708 SW 34th St., Gainesville
  • $3.18 at Sam’s Club, 4001 SW 30th Place, Gainesville
  • $3.19 at Circle K, 20 NE Waldo Rd., Gainesville
  • $3.19 at Marathon, 3936 W. Newberry Rd., Gainesville
  • $3.19 at Sunoco, 528 NW 8th Ave., Gainesville
  • $3.19 at Marathon, 9600 Martin Luther Hwy., Gainesville

Quick Stats

Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest increases in their averages: Wisconsin (+15 cents), Colorado (+12 cents), Indiana (+9 cents), New Jersey (+9 cents), Idaho (+9 cents), Montana (+8 cents), Connecticut (+8 cents), Maine (+7 cents), New Hampshire (+7 cents) and Michigan (+7 cents).

The nation’s top 10 most expensive markets: California ($4.81), Hawaii ($4.75), Washington ($4.63), Arizona ($4.58), Nevada ($4.24), Oregon ($4.20), Utah ($4.08), Illinois ($3.97), Alaska ($3.94) and Idaho ($3.83).

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Jeff Gehmann

Ridiculous really. Prices should be below $2 to maybe $2.75 max like before Biden came in a day 1 &2 signed orders reversing everything that worked right: like southern border, immigration policies, and complete independence on oil to where we exported oil. Biden likes to buy oil from Iran, Venezuela, and Saudis (until he made them mad by not refilling the US strategic reserves -now at lowest levels in many years).