French strike pushing gasoline prices higher in South Florida

DELRAY BEACH — Gasoline prices are creeping higher and the explanation for the move has a chaos theory quality to it. You know, a butterfly fluttering randomly in Asia somehow influencing a weather system in North America.

AAA says a strike by workers at Exxon Mobil refineries France is pushing prices higher a few thousand miles across the Atlantic.

mobil gas station in delray

Prices at the Mobil on N. Military Trail in Delray Beach.

You read that right. A refinery strike in France is pushing gasoline prices higher in South Florida and the rest of the country.

Regardless of the cause, prices at the pump are definitely moving higher. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Monday that the price of a gallon of regular was averaging $2.685 nationally, up from $2.608 a week ago.

In Florida, regular was averaging $2.688 a gallon, up from $2.643 a week ago.

In Palm Beach County, the most expensive market in the state, regular was averaging $2.783 a gallon on Monday, up from $2.745 a week earlier, according to AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report.

Prices are likely to continue to swing higher in the near term. Gasoline futures settled near $2.11 a gallon on Monday, up from $1.89 two weeks ago. Crude oil settled over $80 a barrel, up more than $8 over the same time span.

Back to France: AAA says the local union also called for strikes at Exxon Mobil Corp.’s plants in Normandy and Southern France to begin Tuesday; however, nothing has been confirmed.

The French Petroleum Industry Union stated France has enough stockpiles to last 10 to 20 days of  “normal” consumer demand. The French strike is in response to company plans to cut refining capacities in France and expand in the Middle East.

“Depending on how long the strike in France lasts, it could shorten future supplies at the same time demand starts to pick up in the coming months,” said Jessica Brady, AAA public relations specialist. “We saw retail gasoline prices inch up slightly in the latter half of last week and it’s very likely we will see prices continue to increase in the coming week.”

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