NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas notes that prices at the pump continue to rise.
"The national average was up 11 cents over the past week," Steward said. "Kansas has not seen as big of a jump in the past week or two. It's slowed a bit. Typically, this is the time of year where we start seeing demand increase, which we have. We've also seen crude oil prices top the $80 per barrel level."
Kansas prices are up 29 cents in the past month.
"Crude oil is a global commodity, for sure," Steward said. "A lot of those decisions are made by OPEC and other producing nations. They can kind of control the production levels and manage those prices."
The OPEC reference basket price, which is an average of per barrel crude oil prices across Africa and including Venezuela, is up from under $83 a barrel on the first of March to over $86 a barrel as of Wednesday.
"The good thing is, we are third-lowest in the nation right now in Kansas with our $3.17 a gallon," Steward said. "Typically, Kansas is one of the lowest in the nation. We've seen some interesting states that are in the top ten of lowest prices of late."
Some of the local counties are even below that state average.
Area county averages, with change from a week ago:
Reno: $3.04 +11
McPherson: $3.10 -1
Harvey: $3.06 +3
Sedgwick: $3.18 +1
Kingman: $3.18 +4
Pratt: $3.19 +2
Stafford: $3.19 +7
Rice: $3.15 +5
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