NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas said gas prices are continuing their seasonal trend.
"Here in the last week or so in Kansas, we're down a couple of cents a gallon to $3.36," Steward said. "The national average is also down a couple of cents in the past week, so we have been seeing a drop in prices, albeit gradually. Domestic gas demand is about 400,000 barrels per day. That's less than we saw this time last year."
Area counties are on either side of the statewide average:
Reno $3.25
Harvey $3.22
McPherson $3.19
Sedgwick $3.29
Stafford $3.45
Pratt $3.50
Kingman $3.43
Rice $3.41
"Generally, this time of year, fall and winter, we see lower demand for driving and gasoline usage," Steward said. "Seasonally, as fewer people hit the roads, there's generally less demand for gas this time of year and we have been seeing that."
Also, winter is when the blend of gasoline is a little less expensive to manufacture.
"Kansas is 11th cheapest in the U.S. as of this week," Steward said. "We have been down in the teens or so, which is typically higher than we usually are. In past times, we've been sometimes in the top five cheapest gas prices, but generally, south of us and southeast of us are the cheapest prices in the country right now."
Geopolitical issues and the approaching usage of crude for other purposes as winter sets in could have an effect on prices, while in a normal year, prices would usually continue lower because of the reduced demand prior to the holiday season.
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