Kansas gas prices headed up, AAA says

Kansas gas prices are headed up.

“Today’s average in Kansas is an even $2.00 a gallon, which is up five cents from a week ago,” said Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas. “We’re still 28 cents below the national average. We’re ninth-cheapest in the United States this week.”

Geopolitical concerns on the ground across the globe have decreased the amount of oil taken out of the ground.

“Crude oil supply has tightened a little bit,” said Steward. “Stockpiles of crude oil have grown less than expected. That has increased the market price of crude oil a bit. That translates to higher prices at the gas pumps.”

Any changes in gas prices will simply be about fundamentals at this point.

“The prevailing factor that we’ll be seeing over the next few months is just going to be that supply and crude oil prices,” said Steward. “That’s probably going to have our biggest impact. We could be looking at some modest price gains at the pumps.”

The national average on Monday was just under $2.28 a gallon.