After gasoline prices spiked last week, they could come down as fuel outages caused by historic flooding in South Florida get resolved.
“There’s hope that the upward pressure on pump prices will begin to ease as supplies stabilize around the state,” Mark Jenkins, a spokesman for the AAA auto club, said in a statement Monday.
AAA expects a combination of declining demand and falling global oil prices to help curb costs at the pump, which went up 15 cents a gallon during the past week in Florida.
The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas Monday in Florida was $3.71, while the national average was $3.67.
“The recent surge in oil costs took a break this week, with the price of oil tumbling back into the upper $70s per barrel,” AAA spokesman Andrew Gross said in a separate statement. “If this oil price trend continues, drivers may see falling gas prices.”
Another reason that pump prices might decline is that several U.S. refineries are returning to service from winter and spring maintenance.
AAA released information Monday after the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection on Friday issued a waiver intended to give the fuel industry more flexibility to address demand amid flooding in South Florida.
The emergency rule —- directed at Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties —- extends the use of winter gasoline beyond the May 1 date the EPA requires the industry to switch to a summer blend.
The waiver will be in place through May 20. The state’s highest average price Monday was $3.89 a gallon in the West Palm Beach area, according to AAA.
The lowest averages were $3.38 a gallon in the Pensacola area and $3.40 in the Panama City area.
The statewide average price was up 31 cents from a month ago but 39 cents lower than a year ago.