People looking for favorable prices at the fuel pump should find them. That’s the general outlook for the Labor Day holiday weekend.

Nationwide pump prices continue to drop as AAA submits its latest report. Across South Dakota, the average cost of fuel per gallon drops to $2.61 compared to $2.75 two weeks ago.

According to AAA South Dakota spokeswoman Marilyn Buskohl in a press release, “Most drivers should pay the lowest gas prices for Labor Day weekend since 2004. The BP refinery outage in Whiting, Indiana, which sent prices dramatically higher several weeks back, has resumed production and average state and U.S. gas prices are falling at their fastest rates since December. We expect South Dakota’s price to move lower as Labor Day approaches. States in the central U.S. are still shaking off the effects of the BP problem.”

Watertown takes the mantle of lowest average price in South Dakota at $2.43 per gallon after dropping 15 cents in the last seven days. The price in Sioux Falls fell to $2.46 this week. Meanwhile the AAA South Dakota survey shows the highest price in Pierre at $2.87 per gallon.

Taking a look at the extremes across the nation, the Pacific Northwest remains the nation’s most expensive region for retail gasoline, and all of the states represented in the nation’s top ten most expensive are located west of the Rockies. Alaska ($3.40) is the nation’s most expensive market for retail gasoline, unseating California ($3.33) after seven straight weeks as the national leader following tightening supply within the state. Nevada ($3.12), Hawaii ($3.10) and Washington ($2.94) round out the top five most expensive markets.

At the other end of the spectrum, motorists in South Carolina ($2.02) are paying the lowest price at the pump in the nation, followed by Alabama ($2.07), Mississippi ($2.08), Louisiana ($2.16) and Arkansas ($2.17).

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