NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The calendar has changed, but the direction of gas prices continues to be downward.
"We've seen lower demand, as fewer people are filling up after the peak of holiday road travel," said Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas. "We really haven't seen much fluctuation on the global crude oil price."
The statewide price is at $2.67 per gallon, down three cents in the past week and 11 cents lower than a month ago. The year ago price was $2.90.
"The cold weather and winter storms can keep a lot of people at home," Steward said. "We saw that earlier this week when the big storm blew through. People were urged to stay off the road and that obviously impacts the amount of gas that's being sold."
Area counties are on either side of the state average.
Reno: $2.51
McPherson: $2.51
Harvey: $2.57
Sedgwick: $2.70
Kingman: $2.67
Pratt: $2.77
Stafford: $2.69
Rice: $2.73
"We're going to keep an eye on these upcoming really frigid temperatures," Steward said. "Those can effect refinery production, in some cases, which could push some regional pump prices higher. We'll just have to see if there are any refinery operations that are impacted by the brutal cold that's on our way."
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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