Statewide, Gasbuddy tells us, gas prices continue to plummet. Average retail gasoline prices in Kansas have fallen 4.2 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.63  Sunday. This compares with the national average that has fallen 2.1 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.78.
Including the change in gas prices in Kansas during the past week, prices yesterday were 37.7 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 34.0 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 21.8 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 49.9 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.
 Gas prices in Great Bend remain higher than the state average. People are noticing and calling the Great Bend Tribune to complain.
We don’t live in a bubble here. Folks talk. Folks search online. Heck, anyone who did much traveling this Thanksgiving weekend noticed they could fill up elsewhere for less.
It was sad to note that two convenience stores right on I-70 that could charge whatever they wanted for gasoline charge less than stations in Great Bend.
It is not difficult to imagine that area residents who where planning on hitting the road for the holidays only pumped enough gas to get them out of town. They surely waited until they got to their destinations before filling up.
“Oil prices have been demolished in the last 72 hours as OPEC decided against a production cut, which will open the flood gates to even more gas price declines,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.  “In my decade of watching oil and gasoline prices, I don’t think I’ve seen as steep a decline in a 48 hour time frame as what we saw on Thanksgiving Day and into last Friday as OPEC put off any decrease in production.
This is perhaps one of the most astonishing weeks in watching crude prices he’s ever witnessed,. “Motorists will likely be giddy at what I see in our gas price crystal ball: a 15-25 cent drop over the next several weeks, bringing the national average down to the $2.50s by Christmas,” he said.
So, as prices continue to tumble, we will keep our eyes on signs locally and see what happens.
Dale Hogg