Are you ready for lower prices at the pump this summer? Here's what you can expect
TALLAHASSEE - Florida approached the end of May with an average gasoline price of $3.50 a gallon and lower prices are expected to come this summer - hurricane season permitting.
The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded early this week was down a penny from a week earlier and 7 cents from a month earlier, according to the AAA auto club.
A summer price decrease is expected, though the hurricane season, which starts Saturday, is forecast to include an above-average number of storms.
"If Mother Nature (or refinery outages) don't get in the way, our expectation is that #gasprices will trend lower every month through the summer with sub-$3 gas coming late this year," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said in a post-Thursday on the X social-media platform.
De Haas added that he was "referring to the national average, not necessarily your local gas station."
Stations in Florida and other parts of the Southeast receive gas supplied by major pipelines connecting to Gulf of Mexico-based refineries.
Average prices typically vary across Florida, with motorists in the Panhandle paying the lowest amounts and people in South Florida, particularly Palm Beach County, paying the most, according to AAA numbers.
Average prices ranged from $3.21 a gallon in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach area to $3.69 in the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area. The national average price was $3.59 a gallon, according to AAA.