AAA: State Gas Stations Recovering From Deluge Of Fuel Demand

Daytona Beach, FL - Analysts say Florida’s gas prices have remained relatively steady even after a cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline led to an increased demand for fuel. As of Monday (May 17), analysts from AAA found Florida’s average price for gas in the state to be $2.89 per gallon of regular unleaded gas, which is only a penny more than a week ago and 2 cents less than 2021’s highest price of $2.91, which was last seen in March. Analysts also found that gasoline sales were reportedly 2-3 times stronger than normal as drivers rushed to fill their tanks amidst the shut down of the pipeline, causing supply shortages. However, Tallahassee is the only market in the state that receives its supply from the Colonial Pipeline while the rest of the state receives its supply from ships in the Panhandle, Gulf Coast/Tampa Bay, and Miami areas. Despite this, outages were reported at various filling stations throughout the state, including many in Volusia and Flagler, due to "panic buying." After the pipeline went down in Tallahassee, the area was supplemented with gas trucked in from Jacksonville. Now, terminals are once again receiving gasoline from the pipeline, which should help restore normal supply patterns for the Tallahassee market. "Unlike last week, fuel demand in Florida is now said to be lower than normal, because many Floridians went into the weekend with a full tank of gas," said Mark Jenkins, spokesperson for AAA. "The lower demand should give gas stations time to replenish their tanks." Jenkins also added that state officials believe most Florida filling stations will have fuel again by the middle of the week. Locally, Volusia County’s average price for gas remains unmoved at $2.86 a gallon. Flagler, however, saw a minor decrease of a penny, bringing the county’s average price down to around $2.85, which is where it started from last week. According to AAA, some areas are still seeing average prices at or above $3.00 a gallon, with the Panama City area being the highest at $3.07, followed by West Palm Beach-Boca Raton at $3.02 and Tallahassee at $3.00. The lowest average price in the state was found to be—again—in Punta Gorda with $2.81 a gallon. The national average currently sits at $3.04, which is up 7 cents compared to the beginning of last week.