Fuel price brief
As unrest in the Mideast and Libya continued to escalate last week, so did the price of crude oil. For the first time since September of 2008, the price of oil closed above $100 a barrel.
Protests in Libya continued to cause concern the unrest will spread to larger oil producing countries and disrupt oil supply. In addition, reports showed the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.9 percent the lowest level since 2009, also drove up the price of oil.
Crude oil closed Friday at $104.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, $6.54 more than last week.
The national average price of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.50 per gallon, an increase of 15 cents from last week. Florida’s average price of $.54 increased 16 cents, Georgia’s average price of $3.43 also rose 15 cents from last week and Tennessee’s average price of $3.37 increased 14 cents from last week, respectively.
Current and past averages for regular unleaded gasoline:
National: Current, $3.503 – Week ago, $3.354 – Month ago, $3.124 – Year ago, $2.736
Florida: Current, $3,546 – Week ago, $3,383 – Month ago, $3,129 – Year ago, $2,788
Source: AAA Auto Club South