NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — No matter where you're headed this December, you're likely to pay less at the pump than you have in a while.
"We've been on a downward trend on gas prices for the past couple of months," said Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas. "It's really continuing on as we head into the holidays."
As of Friday, Kansas gas price average is $2.74 a gallon, a dime below what it was this time last year.
"Kansas is currently the eighth-lowest average gas prices in the nation," Steward said. "The last time we were this low was back in May of 2021. Really, some nice, low prices when we go to fill up our tanks for our holiday road trips."
Area county averages are on either side of the state average as of Friday.
Reno: $2.71
McPherson: $2.65
Harvey: $2.77
Sedgwick: $2.80
Kingman: $2.78
Pratt: $2.92
Stafford: $2.86
Rice: $2.88
"Right now, there's really no indication that we're going to see any kind of a big spike," Steward said. "Oil prices have remained relatively stable and low for the past couple of months. Right now, we're at about $71 a barrel."
More than half of the price of a given gallon of gas is determined by the per barrel price of the oil from which it is refined.
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