Florida gas prices $1.43 a gallon higher than 2021, at all-time high

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — President Joe Biden banned all imports of Russian oil on Tuesday and now the national average for the price of gasoline is $4.25 a gallon. In 2008, at the peak of previous gas spike highs, the average price per gallon in the U.S. was $4.09.

Gas prices are up $0.16 more than at the peak of 2008’s cost cluster, and $1.46 more than a year ago across the country. In some states, gas is as high as $5.57. The honor of most expensive place to fuel up goes to the state of California. Florida’s gas is $1.43 higher than a year ago.

The next eight most expensive states are all at least $0.70 cents per gallon lower than in California, but still could approach $5 per gallon by week’s end, as oil prices continue to surge amid the U.S. oil sanctions. The question doesn’t come down so much to supply but processing.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said the country has the ability to produce enough oil, but limits on production and development have waylaid the process. The lack of usable oil is adding to price pressure across the U.S. He blamed the Biden administration for cutting oil production and said the U.S. should work toward producing an extra 1.5 million barrels per day to address price concerns and availability.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions added to the economic upheaval and dramatic increase in gas prices, cutting off oil from the third largest producer in the world is hitting everyone in the wallet and at the pump.

At the end of February, oil barrel prices jumped above $105 for the first time since 2014, as Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. Reuters reports the U.S. gets 8% of its oil from Russia. Now that the country is banning imports of Russian oil, other sources of fuel will have to cover the gap or add to the price increases.

With inflation already at its highest since 1982, and energy costs among the biggest drivers of that increase, Florida gas prices are rising, though lower than other parts of the U.S.

For the Tampa Bay area, gas prices per gallon are ranging between $4.17 at the lowest in Hernando County to $4.24 at the highest in Hardee County. Most of the 10 counties in the area are seeing gas prices between $4.19 and $4.21. Here’s how the gas is pricing out county-by-county for March 9.

In the meantime, the U.S. announced plans to release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It’ll be the second time in under a year that the reserve has been tapped to address price concerns for American drivers.

The latest report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration said inventory of crude oil, the base of what becomes the gasoline we use for our cars, had dropped by almost two million barrels, 13% lower than the previous five-year average.