More good news for area motorists: Gas prices should continue to fall this week throughout Central Florida, AAA Auto Club South said.
Oil prices fell below $95 a barrel last week as the U.S. and international economic outlook was less than optimistic. Crude oil settled Friday at $93.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange , $6.28 less than last week.
In addition, the International Monetary Fund cut the U.S. economic growth outlook to 2.5 percent this year, from the projected 2.7 percent based on a slow economic recovery and poor job market.
And consumer sentiment in the U.S. also fell to 71.8 in June from 74.3, according to a Thomson Reuters report. Meanwhile, U.S. stockpiles of crude oil rose to the highest level in almost 30 years in the month of May with a total of approximately 367 million barrels.
“Oil prices are expected to drop further this week and push retail gas prices even lower,” said Jessica Brady, spokeswoman for AAA Auto Club South. “Retail gas prices reflected minimal decreases for the past two weeks as oil prices hovered around $100 a barrel. Now that oil prices dropped below $95, consumers can expect gas prices to fall another 5 to 10 cents this week.”
The national average price of unleaded regular gasoline is $3.65 a gallon, 5 cents less than last week. Florida’s average price of $3.59 is a 4-cent decrease from last week.
In metro Orlando, a gallon of self-serve regular currently averages about $3.50, down 5 cents from a week ago.
