Treasure Coast Gas Prices Hit $3.94 as Middle East Conflicts Drive 22-Cent Surge

Florida drivers pulled up to the pump over the weekend to find prices holding at just under $4 a gallon, a 22-cent spike from the week before driven by global market volatility tied to conflicts in the Middle East, AAA reported Sunday.

The auto club put the statewide average at $3.94 per gallon as of Sunday. For a Treasure Coast family filling a midsize SUV with a 16-gallon tank, that adds up to roughly $63 per fill-up — more than $3.50 more than the same stop would have cost seven days earlier.

Prices varied sharply across Florida. Okaloosa County, in the Panhandle, posted the state's lowest average at $3.64 per gallon, while Monroe County — home to the Florida Keys — recorded the highest at $4.20.

The week-over-week jump reflects growing instability in global oil markets, where tensions in the Middle East have introduced fresh uncertainty into crude supply chains. Florida, which imports virtually all of its fuel, is particularly exposed to those swings, officials have noted in past market disruptions.

Treasure Coast commuters — many of whom drive I-95 or the Florida Turnpike for work between Martin, St. Lucie, and Indian River counties — are absorbing the increase at a time when grocery and housing costs remain elevated. For small business owners running delivery routes or contractors moving equipment between job sites, a sudden 22-cent-per-gallon rise across a commercial fleet can translate to hundreds of dollars in added weekly costs.

AAA monitors prices daily and publishes statewide and county-level averages on its website. Whether this week's figure holds, rises further, or retreats depends largely on how the situation in the Middle East develops in the days ahead, energy analysts said.

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