Somerset — Somerset officials are attempting to get to the root of an issue that has plagued the area for years — gas prices, which seem to almost always be higher than those of surrounding towns.

During a recent Somerset city council meeting, councilman John Ricky Minton called out Murphy Oil USA, Speedway and Kroger, specifically, for setting gas prices as much as 25 cents higher at their Somerset stations than in other towns.

Minton asked City Attorney Carrie Wiese to send letters to the companies in question to attempt to get answers to the question of why prices are higher here. He encouraged county officials to do the same.

Last week, Mayor Eddie Girdler sent a letter to four companies. As of early this week, only one company had provided a response, Girdler said.

Girdler’s letter to Murphy Oil USA states:

“Your company philosophy of humble leadership, listening, and openly communicating are core values that we appreciate in city government. That is the reason we are writing to you to receive comments/suggestions on the difference in the gas prices in our community as compared to all surrounding areas. ...

“An informal survey was conducted that indicated our prices are often 10+ cents higher (per gallon) than surrounding communities and this has been the case for several years. In fact, the prices are higher than interstate sites and areas with more demand. ...

“Sites that are shipped gas from Somerset (have) lower prices than our community. We understand supply and demand but that does not seem to tell the story in Somerset. ...

“Our intent of this letter is to obtain a review of the pricing schedule in Somerset and, if possible, a reduction in the gas pricing as compared to our surrounding communities.”

Gas prices in Kentucky have declined significantly since the beginning of August.

A “gas price heat map” available on www.kentuckygasprices.com indicates that average gas prices in Pulaski County are very similar to the average prices at stations in many surrounding counties — currently ranging from $2.49 to $2.58 per gallon.

According to the site, overall, prices tend to be lower than the state’s average in cities such as Corbin, Glasgow, Nicholasville, Campbellsville and Bardstown — and higher than average in cities such as Owensboro, Jeffersontown, Florence, Covington, Elizabethtown, Ashland, Winchester, Georgetown, Lexington, Berea and Frankfort.

A closer look, however, shows that, in the past few days, a gallon of gasoline would cost an individual $2.55 at a Kroger pump in Somerset — while the same gas could be purchased at a Kroger in Nicholasville for $2.39.