Iowa: Rising gas prices smack region

Gasoline prices soared to an average of $3.27 per gallon in Sioux Falls on Friday – up about 25 cents since the start of the month – pinching pocketbooks and pushing consumers to scale back or change spending habits.

Analysts blame the July 1 shutdown of an oil refinery in Coffeyville, Kan. – caused by flooding – and the closing this week of a key piece of oil processing equipment at a BP PLC refinery in Whiting, Ind.


That has limited the industry’s ability to turn oil into gasoline at a time when supply already is short of demand. Oil accounts for about half the price drivers pay at the pump. South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas and North Dakota are the states hardest hit.

All are posting prices well above the national average of $3.06 per gallon of regular unleaded. South Dakota is at $3.23, according to AAA’s daily survey of prices.

“We just continue to get one piece of bad news after another,” said AAA South Dakota analyst Mark Madeja.

Argus Leader