Another big jump seen in Kansas City gas prices

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Gas prices have already soared above $4 a gallon in nine states, and we took a giant step toward that mark here in Kansas City in the past 24 hours.

While the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report shows the average prices of a gallon of gas in Kansas City, Mo., as $3.731, we found stations marked as high as $3.899 in some parts of the metro.

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According to the Oil Price Information Service, the average price of unleaded gas nationwide spiked 14 cents a gallon in the last week as supplies of summer blends of gas, which are formulated to reduce pollution, dwindled in the northeast.

But at the Quik Trip in Grandview, the price went up 14 cents just Wednesday night.

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Gas price monitoring website GasBuddy.com predicts that upward tick should end soon.

Starting Friday, oil distributors will switch to a cheaper winter gasoline, and we should start seeing a difference by the third week in September.

GasBuddy also says even though Hurricane Isaac is long gone, the oil industry is still working on bringing back facilities to 100 percent production. Once those refineries bounce back, prices will stabilize.

The average price on the Kansas side of the metro is $3.822, more than 9 cents higher than in Missouri and just a fraction of a cent below the state average in Kansas., according to AAA.

The cheapest gallon of gas in Kansas metro areas can be found in Wichita, at $3.753. Topeka has the most-expensive in Kansas, just above Kansas City at $3.827.

The Missouri side of the metro, while paying less than drivers on the other side of the state line, is paying about 2 cents more per gallon than the state average.

Gas is about a nickel cheaper than Kansas City, Mo., in Columbia and St. Louis. The most-expensive fuel in the state, among metro areas, is found in Springfield, with a $3.746 average as of Thursday morning.