Gas Prices Up in Florida in Time for Holiday Weekend
Isaac drives up prices in South Florida, across country
Consumer Bob Hansen
South Florida may have been spared the brunt of Hurricane Isaac, but we won't be spared at the pump as gas prices are up again in the wake of the storm just in time for Labor Day weekend.
According to AAA, the average price for regular was at 3.787 a gallon in Florida, while it was $3.829 a gallon nationally.
NBC News reported that gas prices spiked after Hurricane Isaac stopped 93 percent of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. The price has been on the rise since July 2 when a national average was $3.33, thanks to oil sanctions against Iran and a refinery explosion in Venezuela.
Gas Prices Up in Wake of Isaac
With prices on the rise across Florida, calls to the attorney general's price gouging hotline are also on the rise.
"We are in the process of reviewing all 124 as they come in. About a third of those have been declared, so far, to be unfounded," said John Lucas, with the Florida AG's office.
The good news is that gas prices should slide soon as the companies restart their Gulf operations. In the meantime, some gas stations are offering deals so drivers can save at the pump.
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Murphy USA stations at WalMart Supercenters across Florida offer 15 cents off per gallon for anyone who uses their WalMart credit card or WalMart Discover card. If you don't have one of those cards, you can still get five cents off each gallon using a WalMart gift card.
Drivers looking to score the cheapest gas can also go to gasbuddy.com or gasprices.mapquest.com, where you enter your zip code and the nearest stations with the least expensive prices pop up.
While the high prices may keep some drivers off the road, Florida officials hope they don't keep visitors out of the state for the holiday weekend.
"I want to make sure everybody knows this weekend Florida will be opened for business," Gov. Rick Scott said Thursday. "We are going to have a great tourism weekend, it's going to be sunny, we are going to have great fishing, amusement parks will be open."
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