Average retail gasoline prices in Kansas have continued their downward tumble, falling 5.9 cents per gallon in the past week, GasBuddy.com reported. The average earlier this week was $3 per gallon according to a daily survey of 1,329 gas outlets in the state. This compares with the national average that has fallen 3.3 cents per gallon in the last week to $3.26.
Including the change in gas prices in Kansas during the past week, prices yesterday were 26.5 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 24.3 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 12.8 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 24.2 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.
The lowest prices in the state were recorded at Salina with $2.74. The highest were in Hays at $3.69 just off I-70, and $3.36 at Lakin and Colby.
In Great Bend, the price hovered around $2.97. In Larned, it was $2.99.
“The downward movement in national gasoline prices has continued for yet another week, thanks to a fall in commodity prices,” said GasBuddy.com senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan. “Oil prices continue to shed value, leading the way to lower gasoline prices. “
Five states – all in the nation’s midsection – are now seeing their average prices under $3, including Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, and Kansas. Motorists in those states certainly have a ‘there’s no place like home’ advantage,” DeHaan said.
October 2013 Facts
1. October gasoline prices fell as steadily as the leaves this month, averaging $3.358, the cheapest monthly average since January this year, and the cheapest October since 2010.
2. As a snapshot of the month’s steady decreasing prices, the highest gasoline average occurred on the first day of the month ($3.420) and the lowest on the last day ($3.285).
3. October’s average is 18 cents cheaper than September, the biggest month-to-month drop of the year. (The average month-to-month change thus far in 2013 has been an increase of 1 cent).
4. U.S. “spot” or “bulk” prices for gasoline in October plunged to their lowest levels since before the 2011 “Arab Spring.” That bodes well for continued early November weakness in pump prices.
5. The price of wholesale ethanol ended October at a 38-month low. The average price of just over $2 was 41 cents below the October 2012 number. Ethanol accounts for almost 10 percent of the finished motor fuel cost in the great majority of states.
6. Seven out of the last 10 months have had a lower monthly average than it had last year: January, March, April, May, August, September, and now October.
7. The median price of the US for October averaged $3.291, though the average most common price one would find was $3.305.
8. Across the country, the 1 percent most expensive stations averaged $4.146 for the month, while the 1 percent cheapest sites reported an average of $2.913 gal, making the gap between the highest and lowest prices $1.223 gal.
9. Every day in October had a lower price than the same day last year, bringing the streak of days when the price was lower than the same day last year to 86 straight. The last time there was a streak at least this long was from April 24, 2012, to August 8, 2012, 107 days consecutively when the price was lower on the same day as the previous day in 2011.
10. On October 11, 2013, the national average of $3.370 saw the biggest difference from the same day last year of the month, down 44 cents from October 11, 2012.
11. Only two days in October saw a national price average above the previous day: Oct. 7 (up 1 cent from Oct. 6) and Oct. 15 (up 0.7 cents from Oct. 14).
12.  The year-to-date average has been steadily decreasing over the course of the month, as the October prices continued to fall. At the start of the month, the YTD average was $3.561; since then, the YTD average has dropped 2cts gal to $3.541 as of Oct. 31.
13. The October 2013 average was 47 cents higher than the October 2000 ($1.551 gal) and October 2002 ($1.341 gal) averages combined, though it is still the cheapest October since 2010.
14. Over the past 13 years, 10 Novembers (in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2012) have averaged a lower monthly price than that October, forecasting a promising November 2013.
15. The average daily change in October was a decrease of about half a cent a gallon per day. This is lower than the 12-year average daily change of -0.4 cents for October. Only September has had a larger daily decrease this year so far, averaging a change of -0.6 cents difference each day.
16.  At the end of the month, 13 percent of the country reported prices under $3; at the start of October, only 1.6 percent of the US reported prices lower than that threshold.
17. Missouri had the lowest average for October of all the states, at $3.039, unseating South Carolina which held the lowest October average for the past three years.
18. More predictably, Hawaii had the highest October average in the country at $4.133, making 2013 the third year of the past four Octobers that it has been the most expensive state. (Last year, California took the top spot at $4.419).
19. Missouri also reported the lowest price of the month; on Oct. 30, the state averaged $2.916, the first time since 2010 the lowest price of the month was below $3. Hawaii of course, reported the highest price in October, on Oct. 2 at $4.249, still 42 cents cheaper than last October’s highest price (California’s $4.664).
20. Idaho had the smallest difference between October 2013 and October 2012; the average there was down only 19 cents. Californians saw the biggest difference from last year in their wallets; their gas cost 65 cents less this October than last.
21. Montana saw the biggest change from the start of October to the end, dropping from $3.548 on Oct. 1 to $3.275 al on Oct. 31, a 27 cent decrease.
22. Ohio had the biggest increase in October, increasing 2 cents from the October starting average of $3.290 gal to $3.309 gal. Only three other states had averages higher on Oct. 31, than on Oct. 1: Kentucky (1 cent increase), South Carolina (1 cent increase), and Indiana (2 cent increase.)
23. Jasper County in Missouri had the lowest October average of all the counties at $2.942. Alaska’s Haines County had the highest average at $4.729.
24. Both the county with the biggest increase from the first of the month to the last and the county with the biggest decrease were found in South Dakota: Potter County averaged $3.459 on Oct. 1 and ended the month at $3.759, an increase of 30 cents; Duel County averaged $3.819 at the start of October and decreased to $2.999 gal on  Oct. 31.
25. The metro-area with the lowest average for October was Joplin, Mo. With a $2.954 average for the month, it was one of three metros with an October average under $3 the others being Columbia, Missouri ($2.977) and St. Joseph, Missouri ($2.978).
26. Missouri also had the metro with the lowest price of the month: Halloween was a treat at the pump for residents of the Columbia, Missouri area; gasoline averaged only $2.847.
27. Conversely, the first day of month was the scariest for Hawaiians living in Honolulu; they saw the highest price of the month at $4.155 gal.
28. The only metropolitan region with an October average above $4 (and therefore the highest price) was Honolulu, Hawaii, at $4.063.
29. Citizens surrounding the Dubuque, Iowa, metro had the most dramatic change from the start of the month to the end. The average there dropped from $3.453 Oct. 1 to $3.116 on Oct. 31, saving them 34 cents more on the last day of October than the first.
30. Lafayette, Ind., actually saw an increase in price from the start of the month to the end, averaging $3.210 on Oct. 1 and $3.348 on Oct. 31, an increase of 14 cents.
31. The metro-area with the biggest drop from last year’s October to this one was Ventura, Calif. Residents of this Golden State’s metro paid an average of 71 cents less than they did last October. Those in Boise City, Idaho, on the other hand, barely noticed a change at all, dropping only 2 cents from the October 2012 average there of $3.778.