Just in time for local drivers to head out on their last summer break, they found that several of the local gas stations had taken another jump and gas was back at $3.50 for several places in the community.
However, there were still local spots where gas was $3.40 and it has risen enough around the state that Great Bend was still listed, at $3.40, as the low spot for Kansas by a statewide Internet gas price site.
The temporary break in price increases was missing from the prices recorded on Thursday afternoon.
Prices around the state included: $3.41, Garden City; $3.45, Larned, Lawrence, Wichita, Topeka, Liberal, and Pittsburg; $3.49, Dodge City, Manhattan and Emporia; $3.50, Emporia and Salina; $3.51, Salina; $3.52, Junction City and Salina; $3.55, Emporia and Manhattan; $3.59, Junction City; $3.69, Pratt, Hutchinson, Chanute, Osborne, Maize, Parsons, Independence and Hays; $3.72, Hesston; and $3.73, Colby.
Some communities are listed more than once in the prices, because there are a variety of gas prices available.
The state average price Thursday was $3.59, up from $3.52 a week ago and up exactly a dollar a gallon from $2.59 a year ago.
The national average price on Thursday was $3.64, which is up from $2.69 a year ago.
The prices are reported on Kansas Gas Prices, which is operated by Gas Buddy Organization, that was developed as a way for the public to report changes in gas prices around the nation.
The Kansas prices are available at www.kansasgasprices.com.
According to the Associated Press, it’s not just around here that price increase have been evident with the holiday just around the corner.
“Gasoline is near the highest it’s ever been for this time of year, just ahead of the Labor Day weekend.
“The run-up in oil prices this year, combined with a rash of refining problems throughout the U.S., has boosted pump prices. The national average on Thursday is $3.629 per gallon. Drivers will pay more for gasoline this Sept. 1 than in any other year except 2008, when pump prices hit an average of $3.686.”
Experts noted that the answer is not just supply and demand, either.
“Retail gasoline prices are rising in the U.S. even though motorists are buying less. Analysts say they have been pushed higher by a steady rise in international gasoline demand. Americans may be using less, but drivers in developing nations are using more.”
“The U.S. is using so little gasoline now that it has been a net exporter of refined fuels to other countries for the past nine weeks. That’s typical for OPEC countries, but it’s extremely rare in the U.S.”