NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas notes that the seasonal tumble of prices at the pump is happening again in 2024.
"We've been in a trend here the last several weeks of gas prices falling back as well, Steward said. "We've seen a decline in the past week here in Kansas of three cents. We're now at $2.78 a gallon for the average price, and if you're filling up in Reno County, you've got the lowest price in Kansas at $2.59 a gallon. So 20 states right now across the country are sub-$3 on their average gas price."
"During the summer, there are government regulations that require a summer blend of gasoline that is less susceptible to creating air pollution," Steward said. "That's more expensive to produce, and that's required to be in the gas pumps during the summer months. But when we get into the fall, we go back to the so-called winter blend, and that usually knocks prices down a little bit, because it is less expensive to refine."
The parts of the U.S. with offshore oil have generally been spared the worst of hurricane damage this season, as well.
"The major refineries in the Gulf have generally stayed free of any damage or outages," Steward said. "When there is a hurricane that comes through, it can knock out power in that area. Gas pumps obviously can't work if there's no power. So we've seen some of that in the southeast U.S. But fortunately, no refining production operations have been impacted in any serious way."
For the latest information on gas prices, go to gasprices.aaa.com.