This year’s holiday season has been greeted with lower gas prices. The price at the pump has declined due to the decrease of the cost of crude oil.
Crude oil is the raw material that creates gasoline and the biggest component of the overall price. The cost to purify, transport and sell the fuel is then added into the amount. AAA Spokesman Mark Jenkins says the recent plunge comes from a surplus of supply and decrease in demand.
“You would expect to see gas prices rise during the holidays, but that’s not necessarily the case just because crude oil prices are very inexpensive right now. Refineries are producing gasoline at a very high rate. Not to mention that they’re producing a winter blend gasoline, which is much cheaper to produce than summer blend gasoline. And then you got that demand factor, there are fewer people taking extended road trips.”
The national average of gas is currently $2.56 per gallon and Florida’s average is $2.43 per gallon, the lowest it’s been since December 2017.