After a buying panic caused by Hurricane Ike, gas prices are expected to start dropping back to normal.
"There is a light at the end of the tunnel," said Randy Bly, a spokesman for AAA Auto Club South.
Bly said the public could see prices fluctuate at first but that the worst has happened and prices should slowly decrease within the next week.
As of Tuesday, 14 refineries were shut down in Texas, more of them because of shortages from last week's panic than because of Hurricane Ike, Bly said.
Twenty tankers from Europe are coming in this week to help replenish refineries, he said.
Still, the state is continuing to receive reports of price gouging. More than 1,800 complaints about gas gouging are being investigated in Florida, according to the state Attorney General's Office.
Those stations that are price gouging to benefit from the panic can be fined or lose their licenses to operate, Bly said.
Gas in Gainesville averaged $3.95 for regular unleaded Tuesday, a penny more than the day before. Florida's gas prices averaged at $3.85 Tuesday.
The states that have been hit the worst by rising gas prices are Tennessee and Georgia, he said - Knoxville, Tenn., had the most expensive gas in the nation last week at $4.65.
On Tuesday, the average gas price in Knoxville was $4.49, Bly said.
"That's a sign that the gas prices are dropping," he said.
Gas in the Carolinas, Tennessee and Georgia comes straight from Houston, Texas, Bly said, which is why prices in Florida have remained lower.
"Florida gets 90 percent of its gas from barge traffic," Bly said. "There are refineries located along the Mississippi River, and that gas is sent in barges to Florida."
Most of Gainesville's gas is received from ports in Jacksonville and Tampa, which adds a transportation fee to the prices.
The gas panic supposedly started because of signs at a Gainesville gas station last week telling customers to purchase gas before it hit $5.
"Try to go back to the way you normally purchase gas, and don't fill up containers of gas," Bly said.
