NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas said Thursday that prices at the pump are going up, but not very quickly.
"We've seen some small upticks in prices," Steward said. "Today's average in Kansas is $3.28 a gallon. That's up three cents from a week ago and up about five cents in the past month. Modest increases, probably pretty limited in terms of what we could see this time of year. I think, while demand has been strong, especially for the holiday weekends this summer, crude oil prices, which drive much of the cost we see at the pumps, have been relatively stable all summer. We're looking at $75 to $76 a barrel in the crude oil market."
Reno County's average price is one of the lowest in the state at $3.11 a gallon. Area prices are as follows:
McPherson $3.09
Harvey $3.15
Sedgwick $3.33
Kingman $3.25
Pratt $3.29
Stafford $3.26
Rice $3.23
Steward notes that the crude oil market seems to have normalized itself now that geopolitical factors are staying the same at the moment.
"The Ukraine-Russia situation was obviously the major driver last June and throughout much of last year has had an impact on crude oil prices, but that seems to have calmed down for the time being. That is really the reason why we've seen such a stable crude oil market for most of this year."
There is still the chance that weather could impact supply as we get deeper into the Atlantic hurricane season, but barring something like that, the highs of last year look to be behind us.
"We don't see anything on the near term horizon that would indicate any huge leaps in prices at the pumps," Steward said. "A year ago this time, we were almost a dollar higher price, about $4.26 a gallon."
The prices are just about flat with the statewide average a month ago.
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.