Barton sees signs of possible post-storm gasoline price gouging

Washington (Platts)--31Aug2005

House Energy Committee Chairman Joe Barton (Republican-Texas) said
Wednesday a "very good case" could be made that some gasoline retailers "have
begun to gouge the American public" in the wake of refinery outages related to
Hurricane Katrina.    
     Barton cited reports that the price of gasoline in one Michigan
congressional district is up $1/gal from yesterday.
     "If that's true, that is something that needs to be investigated," he
said. If there is some way to keep prices "from just going through the roof in
an excessive, price gouging frenzy, then I'm prepared to look at appropriate
legislative and enforcement actions," he added. 
     Barton said his committee will hold a hearing Sep 7 on the impact of
Hurricane Katrina on the wholesale and retail energy markets.
     The crisis, he added, "shows that our refinery capacity is inadequate." A
number of large refineries in Louisiana and Mississippi remained down
Wednesday due to power outages or flooding.

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