Gas prices projected to rise 30 cents per gallon this month
February gas prices were the highest they have been in three years, and motorists should expect more of the same in March, with one fuel-tracking website predicting costs could rise 30 cents per gallon this month.
Across Florida, the monthly average for February was $2.28, the same as the national average, according to AAA’s daily fuel tracker.
Assuming the predicted rise of 30 cents per gallon, March prices would be the highest since 2014, though still well below that year’s monthly state average of $3.53.
Gas prices usually follow an upward trend from February to Memorial Day. In the past five years, prices rose between 35 and 75 cents during that four-month period.
AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins
In 2016, average prices in Florida jumped from $1.77 in February to $1.95 in March.
“Gas prices usually follow an upward trend from February to Memorial Day,” AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said. “In the past five years, prices rose between 35 and 75 cents during that four-month period.”
Should Florida motorists face the higher end of that projection, that could mean prices approaching $3 per gallon by Memorial Day and the unofficial start of summer.
How much gas costs surge will depend on the price of oil, which averaged $53.46 per barrel in February.
“If oil prices remain steady, pump prices would likely stay in the low end of the historical range,” Jenkins said.
The average of Wednesday in the Bradenton-Sarasota area was $2.24 per gallon, up one cent from Monday, according to AAA.
Gasbuddy’s daily survey of more than 300 area gas outlets had Manatee County stations averaging $2.21 per gallon on Wednesday, up three cents from Monday, while Sarasota County was at $2.27.
This story was originally published March 1, 2017 at 10:15 AM with the headline "Gas prices projected to rise 30 cents per gallon this month."