Lining up at the pump today? Here’s what you’ll find

Motorists are beginning to find some of the lowest gas prices of the year. Florida gas prices averaged $2.27 on Monday, dropping 6 cents during the past week — and 3 cents less than this time last year.

And even better news here in the Bradenton-Sarasota area: Gas prices fell 7.6 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.21 a gallon, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 308 area gas outlets.

Florida ranked fifth among states with the biggest weekly decline, according to AAA. Those prices should continue to drp to a new 2017 low in the next day or two, analysts predict. The lowest state average so far this year was $2.26 on March 20.

Locally, prices were 2.7 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and 5.5 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.

“Another week, another nearly country-wide decline in average gasoline prices as crude oil prices struggle near the lowest levels of the year,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “It looks like even OPEC’s best move to thwart supply increases hasn’t done much thanks to U.S. oil production, which has charged back like a bull.”

The state average is on a 15-day streak of declines, falling a total of 10 cents since June 3, according to AAA, whose data is collected from credit card swipes and direct feeds from 120,000 gas stations nationwide, in cooperation with OPIS and Wright Express.

A note of caution: Meteorologists are watching two storms in the Atlantic Basin, either of which have the potential to push fuel prices higher this week. Oil and gas prices would rise if either of these develop into a major storm, move into the Gulf of Mexico, and threaten supply coming from refineries along the gulf coast.

This story was originally published June 19, 2017 at 9:28 AM with the headline "Lining up at the pump today? Here’s what you’ll find."