Increases in oil prices worldwide have, unfortunately, translated to local gas pumps.
Emporia gas prices had been holding between $2.89 and $2.95 a gallon for months, but local gas prices started going above $3 a gallon this past weekend and now those range between $2.99 and $3.09 — with six of Emporia’s 10 stations listed on GasBuddy.com at $3.09. Similar prices are in place areawide. Kansas AAA Manager of Public and Government Affairs Shawn Steward says the ongoing increase in crude oil prices is, pardon the pun, driving gas prices up.
Shortages in natural gas and coal, along with a rebound in economic demand, and expected price hikes for heating oil, have all put more emphasis on crude oil.
Steward says this increase is coming at a time when gas prices normally come down, thanks in part to the summer driving season ending, children returning to school and other factors, and he says there is no indication prices could go down in the near term. Having said that, Kansas now has the sixth-cheapest gas on average nationwide at $3.02 a gallon, well below the national average of $3.34, and Steward says the Central and Southern Plains has the cheapest gas prices in the nation. California has the highest gas price at around $4.50.
