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Filling your gas tank just got really expensive

Robert F. Bukaty
/
AP
Gasoline prices jumped 12 cents last week.

The cost of filling your gas tank got far worse in just a week.

Gasoline prices in Florida rose 12 cents last week, to $3.17 for a gallon of regular, according to AAA-The Auto Club Group.

Jacksonville, with an average price of $3.14, was the second-cheapest place in the state next to Pensacola, but prices statewide were more than a dollar higher than this time last year.

AAA said rising prices for crude oil are driving the higher pump prices. The price of U.S. crude jumped 5% last week, which makes gasoline more expensive to produce.

Last year, global production declined, after the pandemic caused fuel demand to collapse. This year, demand has rebounded, but oil producers have not kept pace.

Prior to the pandemic, the global market was oversupplied. Now demand outpaces supply.

AAA is not hopeful about where prices are headed now.

"Unfortunately, it's not clear when these prices will come back down," spokesman Mark Jenkins said in a statement.

Perhaps you can take some consolation in this: The record-high price in Florida was $4.08 per gallon — in July 2008.