NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — According to Friday numbers from AAA, Reno County is the least expensive county for gas in Kansas.
"Most drivers probably noticed that prices at the pump have been on the rise over the last month or so," said Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas. "We're at $3.04 a gallon today on average in Kansas. The good news is, that's third cheapest in the nation. The bad news is that it's up about 14 cents in the past week and 26 cents from a month ago."
Area county prices:
Reno: $2.91
Rice: $3.04
McPherson: $3.08
Harvey: $2.99
Sedgwick: $2.98
Kingman: $3.04
Pratt: $3.08
Stafford: $3.04
The fundamentals are different than usual for January.
"Robust gas demand, of late, is sort of bucking the usual seasonal trend of low demand," Steward said. "That's been pushing prices higher at the pumps. According to new data from the EIA, the Energy Information Administration, gas demand rose last week from 7.56 million barrels per day to 8.05 million barrels per day. That's despite some weather challenges we've seen in the West."
As always, crude oil prices are the foundation for pump price fluctuation.
"Crude oil prices have been trending upward, with fears of global economic recession easing a bit and optimism that China's demand will potentially rebound this year."
More than half of the price of a gallon of gas at the pump is based on the price of the crude oil it came from.
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