• Retail gasoline prices in South Dakota and nearly every state have moved higher over the last week. As the accompanying chart notes, the South Dakota average for self-serve regular has risen a bit more than thirty cents over the last month and three cents over the last week. Prices in 15 states have increased by at least a nickel since March 4, 2014, led by nine-cent increases in Kansas, Iowa and Missouri. 
• "These higher prices are due to the same seasonal culprit we've been dealing with annually for several years," said Marilyn Buskohl, spokeswoman for AAA South Dakota. "This year's springtime price spikes are largely the result of seasonal refinery maintenance and the EPA-mandated switchover to the production of summer-blend gasolines. Plus, unrest in the Ukraine hasn't helped."