Flagler and Florida gas prices took an unexpected turn higher last week despite a cut in the gas tax timed by the GOP-dominated Legislature to coincide with the November election.
After sinking to a 2022 low of $3.17 per gallon on Wednesday, the state average shot up 16 cents per gallon over the course of four days, in what became the largest weekly increase since June. The increase erases much of the month-long suspension of the state gas tax of 23.3 cents. Flagler County’s local gas tax and federal taxes remain.
On Tuesday, gas was selling in a range of from 3.29 to $3.39 a gallon for regular unleaded in Palm Coast and Flagler Beach. Consumers will be in for another shock when the gas tax “holiday,” as lawmakers like to call it, is lifted at the end of October.
“The jump at the pump came as a surprise, as this time a week ago, it appeared that the state’s gas tax holiday would pressure prices lower,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “However, things changed quickly after OPEC and its allies announced plans to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day. This sent oil and gasoline futures prices back to 5-week highs. As a result, the price for retailers to purchase gasoline jumped more than 30 cents, erasing any of the downward progress created by the 25 cent sales tax holiday.”
The cut was orchestrated by Saudi Arabia, ostensibly an American ally, and Russia, which stands to gain the most as it uses profits from oil sales to finance its war in Ukraine.
In full, the U.S. price of oil rose 17 percent last week. Friday’s closing price of $92.64 per barrel was $13 more than the week before. Since oil is the chief ingredient in gasoline, this raises the cost of producing, buying and selling the fuel.
Florida drivers are now paying an average price of $3.33 per gallon. That’s 7 cents more than the average price last Sunday and closer to what drivers paid on October 1st ($3.38) than on October 2nd ($3.26).
Regional Prices
- Most expensive metro markets – West Palm Beach-Boca Raton ($3.50), Fort Lauderdale ($3.36), Miami ($3.36)
- Least expensive metro markets – Crestview-Fort Walton Beach ($3.17), Pensacola ($3.18), Panama City ($3.21)
| AAA GAS PRICE AVERAGES (Price per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline) |
| Sunday | Saturday | Week Ago | Month Ago | One Year Ago | |
| National | $3.910 | $3.904 | $3.796 | $3.738 | $3.266 |
| Florida | $3.325 | $3.317 | $3.255 | $3.478 | $3.171 |
| Georgia | $3.226 | $3.219 | $3.177 | $3.283 | $3.058 |
| Click here to view current gasoline price averages | |||||
The voice of reason says
This fuel tax holiday should have occured when gas was $4.89 a gallon late spring/early summer. Of course the devious political weasel deathsantis placed it right before elections. The benefit lasted 2 days and now gas is higher than before that tax break took effect. A Florida zoo should have a featured exhibit of desantis, Rubio and Scott on display as purebread republican weasels.
raw says
How did the gas prices go from $2.00 a gallon to over $5.00 a gallon? While you are playing the blame game, add O’Biden at the top of the list.
The Voice Of Reason says
Record profits might have something to do with it. What caused gas to drop from 4.89 to slightly less than 3.00? Shale kept gas cheap for trump. Then it stopped during covid. Producers of shale oil said they needed 60 per barrel to make money. When it got to high 120s, no shale oil. Wonder why, maybe Biden in office. Energy is corrupt on a world scale. Supply and demand is a myth.
Timothy Patrick Welch says
California $5.88…. Florida $3.84
Europe ~ $7.20
I wonder if we should show compassion on the Europeans and ramp up production? Or, we can continue to beat the war drums, driving fear into their hearts.
Pierre Tristam says
Let’s not neglect the fact that European gas prices are much higher than those in the United States, as they should be, because Europe takes its infrastructure and environmental protection seriously: it’s not that somehow a barrel of Mexican oil costs that much more in Europe than it does in Florida, but Europe taxes fuels more proportionately to the actual cost of burning fuel. We subsidize it in comparison, so we end up having astronomically deficit-enlarging infrastructure bills like the one Biden signed into law, and that has the likes of you complaining about Biden inflation. Or we let decades pass without serious action on climate change and sea rise (remember all that time you boasted of $2 gas under Trump?), and end up paying just in the last four years $20 million to dump new dunes on Flagler’s shore that lasted all of three years, $28 million to build a sea wall and a 15-block segment of A1A, $18 million to rebuild a pier, after the $1 million spent to repair it in 2017, and soon $25 million to dump dunes on just 2.6 miles of beach in Flagler Beach. Where has that nearly $100 million in four years gotten us? Back to zero, thanks to Ian. That’s just in tiny Flagler. Florida calls that “resiliency.” I call it a farce at taxpayers’ expense. Those lower gas prices are not only an illusion. They’re a bait and switch. But American democracy would not itself be the illusion it is but for the gullibility of its electorate.