MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) shareholders celebrated a record 2007 and heard an optimistic outlook for another strong year in 2008 at the company’s annual meeting today.

Shareholders also re-elected three members to the Board of Directors.  Re-elected to one-year terms were: Thomas Everist, president and chairman of The Everist Company in Sioux Falls, S.D.; Karen B. Fagg, president and chairman of HKM Engineering, Inc. in Billings, Mont.; and Patricia L. Moss, president and chief executive officer of Cascade Bancorp and Bank of the Cascades in Bend, Ore.

Shareholders also ratified the selection of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the company’s independent auditors for fiscal year 2008.

MDU Resources President and CEO Terry Hildestad noted that the company has withstood a volatile stock market and has outperformed some major indices so far this year.  While the S&P 500 is down more than 5 percent year-to-date, MDU Resources’ stock price actually has grown more than 4 percent since the beginning of the year.

“When you consider our stock’s performance, the company’s dependable dividend payment history, and some of our business opportunities this year, I think you will understand why we believe that 2008 is going to be another very good year for MDU Resources,” he told shareholders.

Recent acquisitions such as Cascade Natural Gas and natural gas properties in East Texas – the largest two acquisitions in the company’s history – will help MDU Resources maintain momentum in 2008, he said.

In addition, Hildestad said that the company is pleased with initial results from its first two wells in the Bakken field in western North Dakota.  The Bakken is the hottest oil play in the United States, and the U.S. Geological Survey recently estimated that the Bakken holds more oil than anywhere else it has assessed in the lower 48 states.  Hildestad said that the company currently has three rigs working in the Bakken, and is looking at opportunities to accelerate participation beyond the 25 wells originally planned for 2008.

MDU Resources is celebrating several milestones in 2008.  This is the company’s 60th year of being listed on the New York Stock Exchange, an achievement reached by only 7 percent of companies traded on the Exchange.

This year also marks the 40th anniversary of moving the company’s headquarters to Bismarck from Minneapolis.  Since that time the company has grown from primarily a utility, with revenues of $48 million and 1,500 employees, into a diversified company with revenues of $4.2 billion and 14,000 employees in peak season.

“If you had invested $1,000 in MDU back in 1968, today it would be worth about $199,000,” Hildestad said.  “Bismarck is a very good home, and we like to think that both the community and the company have benefited from this move.”

The information in this release includes forward-looking statements, including statements by the president and chief executive officer of MDU Resources regarding the optimistic outlook for the company in 2008 and the opportunity to participate in wells in the Bakken field, within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although the company believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, actual results may differ materially. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include economic volatility; fluctuations in natural gas and crude oil prices; drilling successes in natural gas and oil operations; the ability to effectively integrate acquisitions and weather. For a discussion of other important factors that could cause actual results to differ, refer to Item 1A – Risk Factors in MDU Resources’ most recent Form 10-K.

MDU Resources Group, Inc., a member of the S&P MidCap 400 index, provides value-added natural resource products and related services that are essential to energy and transportation infrastructure, operating in three core lines of business: energy, construction materials and utility resources. MDU Resources includes natural gas and oil production, natural gas pipelines and energy services, construction materials and contracting, construction services, and electric and natural gas utilities. For more information about MDU Resources, see the company’s Web site at www.mdu.com or contact the Investor Relations Department at investor@mduresources.com.

Contacts:

Investor Relations:

     Phyllis A. Rittenbach
     Director of Investor Relations
     (701) 530-1057

Media:

     Rick Matteson
     Director of Communications and Public Affairs
     (701) 530-1700

    Laura Lueder
    Corporate Public Relations Manager
    (701) 530-1095