JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Gas prices are skyrocketing here in Florida and across the country.
Florida alone has seen a 50 cent spike just since last week and industry experts expect it will only get worse.
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The price for fuel at WAWA on Beach Boulevard was set at $3.99 a gallon Monday morning.
Just a few hours later it increased to $4.19 a gallon.
The price at the pump is going up seemingly every day and Floridians like Elaina Brindis are finding ways to get the best deal.
“I’m just making sure I don’t get to like an empty tank. I’m filling up at a quarter or a half of a tank, nothing lower to make sure I’m not spending that much,” said Brindis.
Average gas prices in Florida have hit $4 a gallon for the first time since 2008 and Mark Jenkins with AAA predicts the worst is still ahead of us.
“The record high state average price for gasoline here in Florida was $4.08. That was back in July of 2008. Based on the way things are going I would anticipate us to breach that price before the end of the week,” said Jenkins.
He said the war in Ukraine is the main driver of the current surge.
“I think that we’ve seen so much volatility and oftentimes it’s driven by headlines out there. As decisions are being reviewed and made it’s moving oil prices directly,” said Jenkins.
Derrick Morgan with American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) told us prices are also being exacerbated by what he describes as a ‘hostility’ towards American produced oil.
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“We’ve seen a lot of people talking down about that industry. That’s not helpful,” said Morgan.
For long-term solutions, AFPM is recommending the approval of more domestic pipelines, amending the Jones Act, which increases the cost of shipping oil domestically by water and altering the Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires a certain percentage of ethanol in gasoline.
“America does need to produce more energy and I know America’s oil and gas operators are very interested to do that as well if the government policy will enable it,” said Morgan.
In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis recommended a gas-tax holiday that could lower prices by 25 cents back in November, but that idea appears to have hit a roadblock in the State Legislature.