JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There is some relief at the pumps, but not much though.
On Tuesday, the national average price of gas was down one cent, at $4.32 per gallon, according to AAA.
While it may not seem like much, it’s the biggest single-day decline since August of last year.
Florida’s average gas price was $4.33 per gallon as of Tuesday, according to AAA, but at some gas stations, prices were even cheaper. At a RaceWay gas station, it was $4.27. But even the numbers on the signs aren’t able to keep up with how fast gas prices are changing. While it said $4.27 at the pump, the sign said $4.29. It shows you just how volatile these gas prices are.
It’s been almost a week since Carlyer Houston last filled up her car and she can still tell you exactly how much she paid.
" $62.18,” Houston said. “I was, like, oh, my goodness, and there was no need to go anywhere to find anywhere cheaper because it’s not.”
Those were prices in North Carolina where she’s from.
“So I’m thinking, for the South, maybe it would be a little lower,” Houston said. “But as you can see, $4.29.”
Relief may be on the way, as crude oil prices dropped 8% on Monday.
“Gas prices rise like a rocket but fall like a feather,” said AAA spokesperson Mark Jenkins.
Jenkins says prices at the pump will likely come down -- in time.
“Retailers, those gas stations that purchased the gas when prices were all that much more expensive are not going to as fast to lower those prices because they’ll be operating at a loss,” Jenkins explained.
Jenkins says that’s why you’ll likely see prices drop first at heavily-used gas stations.
“They’re going to run through the gasoline a lot faster and need a new shipment. That new shipment will have that mean lower prices attached to it. And then other stations will have to lower it in order to remain competitive,” Jenkins said.
That is, of course, unless oil prices go back up -- which is what Jenkins says was the cause of gas prices skyrocketing over the last two weeks.
“It should remind drivers of how much of an impact crude oil has on what we pay at the pump -- which means that global supply concerns impact what we pay here on a local level,” Jenkins said.
If oil prices remain where they are currently, drivers could save as much as 20 cents per gallon.
But with more workers returning to the office, and drivers hitting the road for summer break, experts like Jenkins say the relief will not likely last long.
And to give you some perspective on where gas was one year ago Tuesday, it was $2.87 per gallon.