While everyone is rejoicing and setting new plans for the New Year, motorists in Virginia and South Florida may have little to rejoice for considering the fact that they have been greeted with a new gas price increase at the fuel pumps, the Sun Sentinel reports.
According to AAA, a travel club, this kind of gas pump price increase was last experienced in 2014 and many motorists and gas fuel users are clearly not happy with the development.
As at Tuesday, the average price of gas per gallon was $2.41 even though it rose to $2.10 on New Year day in Virginia. In other US states, the price per gallon has been below $2, but the Tuesday hike to $2.41 signaled a 15% increase that has gotten many people worried.
“So if you spent $42 to fill a 20-gallon tank on Thanksgiving, you were spending $48.20 to fill it six weeks later,” analysts wrote.
According to WTKR, the November agreement signed by OPEC and non-OPEC members to cut oil production levels influenced the hike in gas prices. The reason for this is because it is not known yet if signatories to the agreement would begin oil production cuts which was slated for January 1, 2017, and then, several refineries across the US are currently in maintenance mode as summer driving season approaches.
AAA revealed that average price for gas in Virginia has remained high for 35 long days, and it is unclear when it will return to normal. But events at OPEC might impact on its toll.
For motorists living in different counties across Virginia, they could check out gasbuddy.com, a price comparison site, to see the retail prices of gas in Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Southwest Ranches, Pines Boulevard, Pembroke Pines, Medley and South River Drive among others.