By Emily Nipps, Times Staff Writer After a steady climb over the past few months, gas prices in Florida dipped by about 3 cents in the past week, settling to an average of $2.63 per gallon. The decline comes after experts projected prices to continue rising due to the weak dollar and speculative investors causing a run-up in crude oil trading. The price of crude oil began at $80 a barrel last week after it hovered near $60 to $70 for much of the summer. But with oil refineries operating at historically low levels, the price of gasoline was bound to drop at some point, experts say. "Looking ahead, it does not appear that there's any momentum to support crude oil at $80 per barrel or above," AAA Auto Club South spokesman Gregg Laskoski said in a press release Sunday. "Barring any unforeseen events, at this time of year we should not be surprised to see fuel prices move lower." In Florida, the average price of gas was $2.711 per gallon a week ago, and it began this week at $2.687. One month ago, the average was $2.476, and a year ago it was $2.159. Nationally, the price is slightly lower at $2.635 per gallon, compared to $2.669 a week ago.

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