CERTIFICATION

I, Martin A. White, certify that:

    1.  I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of
        MDU Resources Group, Inc.;

    2.  Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any
        untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a
        material fact necessary to make the statements made, in
        light of the circumstances under which such statements
        were made, not misleading with respect to the period
        covered by this report;

    3.  Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and
        other financial information included in this report,
        fairly present in all material respects the financial
        condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
        registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
        this report;

    4.  The registrant's other certifying officer and I are
        responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure
        controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act
        Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and
        have:

            (a) Designed such disclosure controls and
            procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and
            procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
            ensure that material information relating to the
            registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries,
            is made known to us by others within those entities,
            particularly during the period in which this report
            is being prepared;

            (b) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
            disclosure controls and procedures and presented in
            this report our conclusions about the effectiveness
            of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the
            end of the period covered by this report based on
            such evaluation; and

            (c) Disclosed in this report any change in the
            registrant's internal control over financial
            reporting that occurred during the registrant's most
            recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth
            fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that
            has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
            materially affect, the registrant's internal control
            over financial reporting; and

    5.  The registrant's other certifying officer and I have
        disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of
        internal control over financial reporting, to the
        registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
        registrant's board of directors (or persons performing
        the equivalent functions):

            (a) All significant deficiencies and material
            weaknesses in the design or operation of internal
            control over financial reporting which are
            reasonably likely to adversely affect the
            registrant's ability to record, process, summarize
            and report financial information; and

            (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that
            involves management or other employees who have a
            significant role in the registrant's internal
            control over financial reporting.

Date:   February 27, 2004


/s/ Martin A. White
Martin A. White
Chairman of the Board, President
  and Chief Executive Officer