By News Service of Florida
A decline in gas prices across Florida the past week isn’t expected to continue as oil prices surged early Monday after President Donald Trump called Iran’s response to a U.S. proposal to end the war “totally unacceptable.”
Florida’s average pump price dipped to $4.40 per gallon Monday, a 7 cent decline from the prior Monday. The price has fallen for four consecutive days, with averages across the state ranging from $4.09 in Gulf County to $4.66 in Monroe County.
Even with the recent decline, the state average is $1.50 more than on Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel began military strikes on Iran.
And while Trump didn’t disclose details of Iran’s response, following his statement oil prices were up 4 percent on U.S. West Texas Intermediate by Monday morning and 2 percent on the international benchmark Brent crude.
Meanwhile, diesel dipped 12 cents a gallon in Florida over the week to $5.28.
At the end of February, the national average price of a gallon of on-highway diesel was $3.81, according to the U.S. Energy Administration.
At the time, the Gulf Coast region had the lowest average at $3.49 a gallon, compared to $4.46 on the West Coast, $3.80 for the Midwest and $3.84 on the East Coast.
For electric vehicles, the cost per kilowatt-hour at Florida charging stations stood at 41 cents on Monday. The price was 39 cents on Feb. 28.