Florida gas prices on March 13 dipped 2/10ths of a penny, but remain up 83 cents a gallon since the start of the Iran War.
Florida gas prices hold steady as Iran War enters Day 14
Checking out fuel prices at the Wawa gas station in Port Orange, near Interstate 95, on Thursday evening, March 12, 2026.
As the Iran war entered its 14th day, gas prices in Florida held steady Friday morning, breaking a 10-day streak of consecutive daily increases that began after the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
For the first time since gas prices started rising in the Sunshine State because of the war, the average price of regular gasoline on Friday, March 13 dipped 2/10ths of a penny to $3.716 per gallon, according to AAA-The Auto Club. Florida gas prices remain up 83.3 cents a gallon on average since the Iran War began.
Gas prices nationally rose for the 11th straight day on March 13, with the average price of regular gasoline inching up 3.2 cents to $3.63 a gallon. Since the war began, the average price of regular is up 63.3 cents a gallon.
What’s causing the pause in gas price increases in Florida?
The pause in gas price escalation in Florida comes after the Paris, France-based International Energy Agency on March 11 announced that its 32 member countries, including the U.S., agreed to release 400 million barrels from their oil reserves in an effort to lower global oil prices, which have soared since the war began.
It is the largest release of oil reserves in history, more than twice the amount released in 2022 in the early months of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The U.S. is releasing 172 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve beginning this coming week as part of the coordinated release of oil reserves by the IEA.
Is the current Iran war really the biggest oil supply disruption in history?
The IEA has called the current Iran war the largest oil supply disruption in history because of the military conflict has essentially shut down shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for 20% of all oil shipments.
In comparison, the oil crisis of the 1970s caused a 5% to 7% disruption in the global supply. That crisis was also political in nature and did not include a physical blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 resulted in a reduction of 3 million barrels a day to the global oil supply. The current Iran War has resulted in a reduction to the world supply of at least 10 million barrels a day, according to multiple news reports including Reuters and Politico.
Some cargo ships are starting to make it through the strait again
Oil markets were rattled on Thursday after news reports that several cargo ships were hit by Iranian strikes around the Strait of Hormuz this past week. That news sent oil prices soaring at or above $100 a barrel again.
On Friday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tried to reassure oil markets by declaring that some ships have started to make it through the 21-mile-wide strait again. He added that there is no evidence that Iran has mined the strait.
Also Friday, Reuters news service reported that an India-flagged oil tailer had sailed out of the east of the Strait of Hormuz carrying gasoline bound for Africa.
According to the website Hormuzstraitmonitor.com, which posts live real-time updates on ship traffic through the strait, only two ships traveled the waterway in the past 24 hours as of 2 p.m. March 13. That’s just 1.67% of the 68 ships per day that would normally travel through the strait. Stranded vessels currently number 200, including 150 tankers and 30 bulk carriers.
The website noted that the Strait of Hormuz has been “effectively closed to Western shipping” since March 1. “Iran allows only Chinese, Muslim-owned and Iran-linked vessels to pass. Western vessels face heavy attacks; traffic down 90-99%.”
As of 2 p.m. March 13, West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading at just under $99 a barrel, while Brent crude was trading over $103 a barrel, both up slightly on the day, according to TradingEconomics.com.
Industry expert weighs in on where Florida gas prices likely go from here
Ellen Wald is a Boca Raton-based energy expert who is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, co-founder of Washington Ivy Advisors, and president of Transversal Consulting. She also writes a column for Investing.com and is the author of a book titled: “Saudi Inc.: The Arabia Kingdom’s Pursuit of Profit and Power.”
Contacted by USA Today Network-Florida for her outlook on Florida gas prices following Hegseth’s remarks on Friday, Wald wrote in an email, “Oil prices remain a major concern for the economy and for Florida consumers.
“(Oil) prices have retreated from triple digit highs, but could easily jump back into the $100+ if Iran damages oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq or Kuwait. Ship traffic in The Strait of Hormuz is still essentially at zero. The only oil getting out of the region is Iranian oil and Saudi oil that is being loaded from a port on the Red Sea.
“American consumers are not likely to experience gasoline shortages because we import very little crude oil and gasoline from the Persian Gulf, but we are not immune to price hikes from increases in global oil prices.
“Gasoline prices in Florida typically cycle weekly with the highest prices seen on Mondays and Tuesdays. Gasoline prices will likely remain elevated until petroleum products are flowing freely through the Persian Gulf and oil prices come down. Diesel prices are rising even faster than gasoline prices because stocks of diesel were lower going into the crisis and will continue to impact Floridians.”
What parts of Florida saw gas price drops, how many saw increases?
AAA tracks average gas prices for metro areas daily throughout Florida and the U.S. based on a comprehensive survey of the final credit card purchases of fuel of the day each night at gas stations across the country.
On Friday morning, AAA reported 14 out of the 24 metro areas it tracks in Florida saw decreases in gas prices, compared with Thursday, while 10 saw increases.
Punta Gorda had the biggest drop in gas prices on March 13, with the average price for regular gasoline falling 2.3 cents to $3.717 a gallon.
The Villages had the second-biggest price drop, with regular falling 2.1 cents to $3.750 a gallon on Friday. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater at the state’s third-biggest drop, with regular falling 1.9 cents to $3.757 a gallon.
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach had the biggest increase in gas prices on March 13, with the average price for regular gasoline rising 3.1 cents to $3.353 a gallon.
Miami had the state’s second-biggest increase in gas prices Friday, with the average price for regular rising 2 cents to $3.700 a gallon. Tallahassee had the third-biggest increase, with regular rising 1.8 cents to $3.427 a gallon.
Daytona area station lowers gas price by 3 cents
Even in metro areas where gas prices rose, some individual gas stations lowered prices Thursday afternoon and evening.
In the Daytona Beach area, where the average price for regular rose 6/10ths of a cent to $3.766 a gallon on Friday, the Circle K gas station on the corner of Tomoka Farms Road and Taylor Road in Port Orange was selling regular gasoline for $3.79 a gallon Thursday evening.
According to GasBuddy.com, a mobile app that tracks gas price changes at individual stations based on motorist reports, the Circle K station was previously selling regular for $3.82 a gallon.
Where is gas the cheapest and most expensive in Florida on Friday?
Panama City was the cheapest place in Florida to buy gas Friday, with the average price for regular gasoline now at $3.320 a gallon, down a half-penny from Thursday.
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach had the second-lowest fuel pump prices in the state, followed by Tallahassee.
West Palm Beach-Boca Raton continues to have the highest gas prices in Florida, with the average price for regular on Friday morning selling for $3.859 a gallon, up 1.5 cents from Thursday.
Naples has the second-highest gas prices in the state, with the average price of regular selling for $3.800 a gallon on Friday, down 4/10ths of a cent from Thursday. Homosassa Springs has the state’s third-highest gas prices, with regular now selling for an average of $3.779 a gallon, down 1.3 cents from the previous day.
Diesel prices continue to rise
While gasoline prices dipped in Florida on Friday morning, the statewide average price for diesel rose a half-penny to $5.079 a gallon. The average price for diesel, which the trucking industry relies on, is now up $1.398 a gallon since the start of the Iran War.
Nationally, the average price for diesel rose 3.2 cents from Thursday to $4.892 a gallon on Friday. Since the start of the war, diesel is now up $1.222 a gallon.
Eighteen-wheeler semi-trucks typically hold 200 to 300 gallons of diesel and refuel every one to three days.
In Hernando County, Armando Reynaldo is an independent trucker based in Spring Hill who mainly transports goods to various parts of Florida.
“My truck holds 220 gallons. I fill up once a week, usually 180 gallons, sometimes 200,” he told a USA Today Network-Florida reporter by phone on Friday.
The increase in diesel prices since the Iran War began means Reynaldo is now paying $252 to $280 more every time he stops to refuel his 18-wheeler semi-truck.
Reynaldo said it doesn’t bother him. “I’m pretty good,” he said. “I look at it this way: if we can stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb, I’m willing to pay a little bit more for it (diesel fuel). I come from Cuba. I know how it works (to live under an oppressive regime).”
How do gas prices in Florida compare with the rest of the nation?
Florida currently has the nation’s eighth-highest gas prices.
California continues to have the highest prices, with regular gasoline on March 13 selling for an average of $5.416 a gallon, followed by Hawaii ($4.848), Washington State ($4.7860), Nevada ($4.448), Oregon ($4.332), Arizona ($4.108), and Alaska ($3.983).
Clayton Park is a journalist for the USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA. He covers everything from insurance, utilities and home prices to groceries, gas and auto prices as the Florida consumer pocketbook reporter. If you have news tips, please send them to [email protected]. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://news-journalonline.com/newsletters.
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