Stamart was the first in Bismarck to drop gas prices to below $3 a gallon Thursday morning, a manager said.

The station let their prices fall to $2.99 a gallon for regular unleaded; prices were getting close enough to $3 that they just made the decision to go below, said LaRayne Hawkinson, area manager for Stamart.

That same move by other stations in Fargo earlier in the week prompted a minor gas war; on Thursday, stations in Fargo were dropping down to $2.89 a gallon for regular unleaded.

Other stations in Bismarck quickly followed suit, and most were at $2.99 by the end of the day; wholesale rack prices for the area have consistently hovered around the mid- to lower $2.70s, before tax.

State prices for a gallon of regular unleaded were $3.33, according to AAAfuel gauge reports, and national prices averaged $3.40 a gallon.

- Crystal Reid