TAMPA, Fla. — Your suspicions are true: Gas prices across the area really are the highest they've been in some time.
And we're talking pre-COVID pandemic. The average price of a gallon of regular gas in Tampa climbed to $2.59 on Monday, according to the crowd-sourced fuel price index website GasBuddy.com.
That's 91 cents above the pandemic low of $1.68 a gallon average set in May 2020. GasBuddy's chart shows the average price has steadily risen since then – aside from a slide in November – and has climbed to its highest point since the summer of 2019.
Tampa's average price largely follows the trend of the U.S. average, dipping around the beginning of the pandemic when demand for gas decreased and climbing since the start of the new year.
The Florida statewide average is a tad higher at $2.64, according to GasBuddy.
Higher crude oil prices and longer-than-expected refinery outages across much of Texas and the Gulf Coast have contributed to the rising average, according to AAA. The auto group says 26 refineries were knocked offline by the winter storm and until those begin to stabilize, continued increases are expected.
Some investors even are betting the improving COVID-19 pandemic will unleash pent-up demand for oil-consuming activities like road trips and flights, CNN reports.
"Last month's jump at the pump was largely driven by refinery issues - caused by arctic weather in Texas," AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said in a statement. "Other factors were tightening global fuel supplies and continued optimism that the Covid-19 vaccine and stimulus money would help boost fuel demand.
"Drivers should expect continued volatility at the pump in the coming months as refineries enter maintenance season and prepare to switch to summer gasoline."
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