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A spike in gas prices offsets Florida's gas tax holiday

Carl Lisciandrello
/
WUSF Public Media

Gas prices across Florida had their largest one-week increase since June, despite a gas tax holiday that went into effect at the start of the month.

After falling to a yearly low of $3.17 on Wednesday, the average price of a gallon of gas shot up 16 cents over the next four days.

Mark Jenkins, spokesman for AAA, said the increase was due to OPEC cutting oil production, offsetting the 25-cent-a-gallon savings from the state's month-long gas tax holiday.

"The jump at the pump came as a surprise, as this time a week ago, it appeared that the state's gas tax holiday would pressure prices lower," Jenkins said in a news release. "However, things changed quickly after OPEC and its allies announced plans to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day.

"This sent oil and gasoline futures prices back to 5-week highs. As a result, the price for retailers to purchase gasoline jumped more than 30 cents, erasing any of the downward progress created by the 25 cent sales tax holiday."

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Carl Lisciandrello is digital news editor of WUSF Public Media.