A study by Triple-A says Gas Prices in North Dakota are the highest of the lower 48 state'saveraging $3.03 a gallon.

The situation may get worse before it gets better.

Officials say a supply shortage in the midwest is THE reason for high prices. In fact, gas is in such short supply Governor Hoeven requested a waiver today from the EPA to get gas out of Canada.

The shortage has left area stations scrambling for fuel.

Mike:"We've got marketers running everywhere to Gillette Wyoming to Rapid City, South Dakota to Alexandria, Minnesota and up into Canada. We're working on a waiver right now through the governors office along with the EPA trying to find a way to access some Canadian gas. There's a limited supply up there that wouldn't solve the problem but it would alleviate some of the pressure right now and that's all we can ask for."


Rud says the shortage could get worse. He says on top of fires and flooding, several regional refineries are shutting down for planned maintenance.

Mike:"Given the fact that I think there's about eight refineries going down September 1st in the midwest in the great plains states that have the capacity of 1.5 million barrels of oil a day is gonna be off-line so it's not gonna get any better in the near future but we really need to think about conservation and that's a hard thing to say with Labor Day weekend coming up here in a few days."


Rud says major retail brands like Tesoro and Cenex will continue to get some shipments of gas. But he says smaller stations will be affected the most, and that it will be hard to meet everyone's needs in the next week or so if they can't find more product. watch the video | save this article / add to your favorites list