Photo: Moment RF
The average price for gas in Florida is just under $3.18 a gallon, which is the highest in seven years. But at some gas stations in Palm Beach County, the prices are topping $5.
"There's definitely a sticker shock with how expensive this gas is."
CBS 12 News caught up with drivers pulling up to the pumps at a Shell station in Palm Beach Gardens where premium is selling for $5.09 a gallon and if you pay with a credit card, you can add another 10 cents to that.
"This is quite ridiculous" says another driver.
Other stations nearby had similar prices and AAA says those are the only ones above $5 a gallon anywhere in the state.
A woman at the Shell station shared her thoughts.
"I've lived here for 26 years and this is the first time I've ever seen anything like this. How are we going to survive?"
AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins says the average price for premium right now in the West Palm Beach area is about $3.97.
As for what's driving the price surge? Jenkins offered this:
"It's all really driven by global supply and demand. During the pandemic, a lot of countries reduced their crude oil production because fewer people were driving. Fewer people were traveling so demand for crude oil had dropped. So it just wasn't as financially feasible to keep pumping out oil that wasn't being used. Now we're at a point where demand has rebounded. Those people are driving, they're flying again. But you can't just start pumping out crude oil overnight. It takes a while to ramp things back up. So right now, demand is outpacing supply."