NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The state of Kansas is in relatively good position compared to other states when it comes to gas prices, according to Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas.
"We're at 14th cheapest in the country," Steward said. "Not as cheap as we usually are, but we're at $3.63 a gallon on average. That's down three cents in the past week."
Local prices are mostly on the low side of the average.
Reno: $3.45
McPherson: $3.47
Harvey: $3.51
Sedgwick: $3.68
Kingman: $3.61
Pratt: $3.74
Stafford: $3.59
Rice: $3.54
"If you look at where we were a month ago, we were almost 40 cents less," Steward said. "We were at about $3.25 a month ago. We have seen an uptick throughout the summer and a little bit of relief in the past week. Overall, the trends have been kind of interesting to look at this summer. We've had a pretty strong summer driving season."
The underlying cost of crude continues to be the driving factor in pump price increases.
"Crude oil prices have really been the major story over the past couple of months," Steward said. "Those have stayed pretty high. Crude oil was down below $80 a barrel as of Friday morning. That's down about $3 from where we were a week ago."
Steward noted that drops in prices seem to take longer to take effect than increases, especially when there are supply concerns, like in the case of hurricanes that temporarily shut down refining capacity.
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