Did you notice, too, that gas prices, which had been steadily sliding down for over a month jumped right back up the end of last week?
Florida gas prices jumped an average of 10 cents per gallon last week. Sunday's state average of $3.46 per gallon is the most expensive daily average price since mid-May.
And AAA says this is normal.
"Summer hasn't officially begun, but the driving season is off to a roaring start," said AAA - The Auto Club Group spokesman Mark Jenkins. "Gasoline demand figures from the past few weeks have been stronger than what we saw during this same time last year. That has contributed to volatility at the gas pump, which is perfectly normal this time of year. The good news for drivers is that oil prices remain low. As long as that's the case, the state average should remain below this year's high of $3.72 per gallon."
We're sitting at $3.47 in Osceola and Orange counties. That's actually down 4 cents from a month ago, but up 16 cents from a week ago. Inconceivable!
On Friday, the U.S. price of oil settled at $70.17 per barrel. That's 2% less than last week and $13.09/b less than this year's high. Oil prices declined last week, despite efforts from OPEC to boost oil prices by extending production cuts that were set to expire this year, and in the case of Saudi Arabia, pledging to cut an additional 1 million barrels per day beginning in July.
National implied gasoline demand figures from the Energy Information Administration measures gasoline demand at more than 9.2 million barrels per day. The weekly total is a little more than 1% over the same time last year. Gasoline demand over the past four weeks averaged 2% stronger than the same time last year.
