Local fuel prices hiked by another dime a gallon this week, but even at that it only brought Great Bend to the state average price of $3.60.
It’s been a constant increase since the first of the year, however, with local prices up each week or so.
Early last month they were still under $3.20 where they had slipped back to during the course of 2011.
But they had risen to $3.50 per gallon as of early last April.
Low price for gas on Wednesday afternoon was in Salina and Topeka, both with $3.46, followed by $3.47 in Junction City; $3.48, Salina and Hays; $3.49, Ottawa, Topeka, Grantville and Pittsburg; $3.50, Salina; $3.52, Garden City; $3.53, Salina and Emporia; $3.54, Lawrence, Emporia and Manhattan; $3.55, Emporia; $3.56, Lawrence; $3.59, Dodge City, Manhattan and Lawrence; $3.63, Hutchinson; $3.75, Neodesha, Cherryvale, and Parsons; $3.79, McPherson and Chanute; $3.85, Coffeyville, Hiawatha and Independence; and $3.89, Hays.
The average price in Kansas on Wednesday was $3.60, up from $3.28 a month ago. The average Kansas price a year ago was $3.40.
The national average Wednesday was $3.72, compared to $3.49 a year ago.
The state average price was last below $2 per gallon in the middle of 2009, however it did not get over $3 per gallon until early last year. Once it did, however, it did not dip back under $3, according to information from Kansasgasprices.com.
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.
Some communities are listed more than once in the prices, because there are a variety of gas prices available.
According to a Wednesday report from the Associated Press, oil prices have risen again. “U.S. oil prices rose by 93 cents to $105.63 per barrel. Gasoline pump prices fell less than a penny to $3.761 per gallon.”
On the other hand, natural gas is lower than expected, due to the warm winter.
“The price of natural gas has dropped to the lowest level in a decade as a mild winter ends with an apparently huge surplus of the fuel on hand.
“Natural gas supplies typically drop in the winter as homes and business crank up the heat. But relatively warm temperatures, combined with a boom in production, has left storage facilities bloated with more gas than normal.
“The government said last week that supplies were 45 percent larger than average for this time of year,” the AP reported.