Motorists in much of the Florida Panhandle continue to pay less than $3 a gallon for gas, but the statewide average price lingers above that mark.
The AAA auto club said the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded Monday in Florida was $3.10, a 4-cent increase from a week earlier.
AAA said oil prices last week were driven by an increased demand for heating oil because of cold weather in the U.S. and in Europe and by renewed optimism about the Chinese economy.
“China is the world's largest oil importer,” AAA said in a news release. “Last year, concerns about China's economy helped suppress oil prices, due to expectations of lower fuel demand.”
Nationally, motorists paid an average of $3.06 a gallon on Monday.
In Florida, averages ranged from $2.74 a gallon in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach area to $3.24 in the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area.