An average gallon of gas in Florida leapt over $4 in the past week, while diesel surged above $6 for the first time ever upon renewed fighting in the Middle East.
Even with a soft decline over the weekend, AAA put a gallon of gas at $4.14 on Monday, 23 cents higher than a week earlier.
And diesel, vital to the state’s supply chain, surpassed the national average over the past week, reaching $6.31 on Monday, 63 cents higher than a week earlier.
"Tensions in the Middle East intensified last week, causing oil prices to surge and increasing the cost of producing gasoline," AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said in a released statement. "Florida drivers are now seeing those higher costs reflected at the pump. If oil prices remain elevated, motorists could face additional upward pressure on gas prices this week."
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, noted that since March 1, after U.S. and Israel strikes on Iran, Americans have collectively spent more than $100 billion more on gas and diesel than in the same period a year earlier.
“With gasoline prices inching up and diesel well above $6/gal and climbing, Americans will pay $418 million more on gasoline and $310 million more on diesel today vs one year ago, or nearly --- $730 million combined,” De Haan posted Saturday on X.
The national average for diesel was $6.23 on Monday, 33 cents higher than a week earlier.
The national average for gas was $4.32 a gallon on Monday, 17 cents higher than a week earlier.
A year ago, an average gallon of diesel in Florida sold for $3.55 and gas was at $2.95 a gallon.
Of the state’s 67 counties, only seven, all on the Panhandle, displayed an average under $4, with a low of $3.95 in Escambia and Bay counties.
At the other end, Monroe County in South Florida had a $4.35 average on Monday, with areas of the Big Bend region topping $4.20 a gallon.
For motorists with electric vehicles, the average kilowatt-hour cost at charging stations in Florida on Sunday rounded down to 41 cents, a rate mostly unchanged since early March.
