NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas is glad to see prices at the pump start to give some relief to drivers.
"For drivers, we're in a good trend," Steward said. "In terms of gas prices, we've seen them fall over the past couple of weeks after a couple of months of headed upward, which certainly got people's attention, because we had some pretty big jumps there. Right now, we're at $3.60 a gallon on average in Kansas and that's down six cents from a week ago."
Kansas currently has the 13th lowest average gas price in the nation.
"Crude oil prices, we are at about $79 per barrel," Steward said. "A couple weeks ago, we were in the $83 per barrel range. That reduction in crude oil prices has, it looks like, started to show up at the gas pumps in terms of a little bit lower prices."
Though the remnants of Harold are still breaking up in Texas, there hasn't been a reason for the weather to stop oil refining yet this season.
"Thus far, we haven't seen any tropical impact to the refineries on the Gulf Coast, fortunately," Steward said.
Between the potential for a demand bump with Labor Day and the Atlantic hurricane season still active, it's not clear whether this week's drop can be sustained in the near term.