Fuel prices are top of mind on Monday amid the ongoing U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and the fears that the strikes will impact the global supply of oil.
WPTV reporter Matt Sczesny spoke with Patrick De Haan at Gas Buddy to get his thoughts on why the strikes could impact drivers in the U.S.
WATCH BELOW - Strait of Hormuz: Patrick De Haan explains why it's key to fuel price spike
"One of the biggest factors is the uncertainty on what Iran may do next, whether or not they will try to block the Strait of Hormuz. It's an extremely long shot for Iran to be able to follow up on their threat by essentially closing the Strait of Hormuz," De Haan said. "It would take an incredible amount of military assets to effectively do so. ... Shipping insurers have raised rates considerably because of the inherent increase in risk, and that is now disrupting the flow of oil out of the Middle East."
De Haan explained this could impact the price of a variety of fuels.
"The risk calculation, the interruption and flow because of the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, that is going to impact gasoline and diesel prices, jet fuel prices, anything derived from crude oil will likely going to see an increase in price here in the days ahead," De Haan said.
De Haan said drivers can expect a slow rise in prices instead of one big spike.
"You may start to see gas stations raising their prices here over the next 12 hours," De Haan told WPTV on Monday morning. "There's an inherent risk in what's happening in the Middle East, and that risk assessment is being assessed not only on oil (prices) today, but in future months as well."
So, how high can we expect to pay at the pump in Florida?
We could see fuel prices start to increase this week, according to De Haan.
"We could indeed see prices going up to say $3.09 or maybe $3.19. Diesel prices are probably going to see a more significant jump, probably of 20 to 40 cents. ... In fact, the national average for diesel could hit the $4 a gallon mark. ... Truckers are likely to notice increases more significant than gasoline."
Alex Fernandez, the owner of Southern Gas in West Palm Beach, said he and other gas station owners are looking to purchase fuel ahead of projected price increases.
"We have fuel. There's gasoline. There's no shortage, but it's tight because the truckers are trying to get in," Fernandez said. "Everybody's trying to rush in to get it before it goes up, and (Port Everglades) kind of shuts down a little bit to make sure everything runs smoothly, so there's pressure."
Fernandez also said we could see a "steady increase" in fuel prices because of the "fear of uncertainty".
"I think you could see ... 10 cents. Tomorrow, maybe you get 3 or 4 cents," Fernandez said. "Don't be surprised if you see more of these 10 to 15 cent jumps in one day. I think that it's a possibility. We've seen it in the past."
Will it impact the price of flights?
As the travel season starts to heat up for spring break and summer, we wanted to know if the current situation in the Middle East will impact airfare.
De Haan explained it may not necessarily impact how airlines set their prices.
"Airlines price more differently, while the price of fuel is one of their largest costs, a lot of airlines price dynamically, not necessarily using jet fuel as a major factor (for ticket prices)," De Haan said. "They absorb a lot of that increase, so you may not notice it yet in airfares. This event could also be short-lived. Oil prices may eventually come back down ... I don't necessarily expect that airlines are going to quickly react. So you may not need to be in a hurry just yet (to book a flight)."
The U.S. is the world's largest single oil producer, but that doesn't insulate America from the global supply of oil.
"OPEC is a member organization and controls about a third of the world's oil supply," De Haan said. "That's a little bit less than triple what the United States produces. Keep in mind 20% of the world's oil flows to the Strait of Hormuz. While the U.S. is a big oil producer, there's still a lot more at stake than even the U.S. production. ... No country is insulated from global events. ... It's a very united global economy."
How long can we expect this increase in fuel prices?
The good news is that these price increases may not be long-term as travel season heats up across the U.S.
"I think it's going to take a couple of weeks for things calm down and come back down. ... I don't think this is going to be a long-term effect or anything like that, but we are going to stay as low as possible, as cheap as possible, as long as possible," Fernandez said.