The average price of gas in Minnesota is closing in on 3 dollars a gallon. Regular unleaded is now around 2.98 a gallon on average statewide and MinnesotaGasPrices.com reports that's the highest it's been in more than two years.  In Duluth most stations are charging around 2.87 a gallon as of Friday morning.  The National average is a bit less than Minnesota, at 2.90. The price of crude oil is behind much of the latest pump increases, nearing 88-dollars a barrel.