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Gas prices dip before Fourth of July weekend

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 6, 2009

TAMPA - Despite the anticipated holiday weekend travel, gasoline prices in Florida dipped 4 cents a gallon in the past week, including a 2-cent drop between Wednesday and Saturday.

The AAA Auto Club South's weekly fuel price report shows that the cost of a gallon of regular gasoline in Florida averaged $2.64, down from $2.68 a week earlier.

The drop comes from a depressed demand and slightly lower prices for crude oil.

Nationwide, the price for gas fell 1 cent a gallon in the first four days of July, the fifth time the price of fuel dropped before the Fourth of July in the past 10 years, AAA said. The price rose in three of those 10 years and held steady the other two years.

But drivers in Georgia and Tennessee, as well as across the country, are getting a better bargain on gas than those in Florida.

The average price for gas nationwide is $2.61 a gallon. In Georgia, gas costs $2.46 and in Tennessee, $2.45.

Despite the slight drop in price, a gallon of gas in Florida still costs 8 cents more than it did a month ago. Gas is $1.42 less per gallon than a year ago.

The price for a barrel of crude oil also continued to decline, reaching $66.73 on Friday. That's down from this year's highest, week-ending price of $72.04 on June 12.

The decline comes from a continued slide in domestic demand that is spurred by the sputtering economy and the highest unemployment in the United States in 26 years.

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