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Wyden Goes to Bat for Consumers
over Steep Gasoline Price Increases
along the West Coast and Nationwide

Senate energy hearing today looked into sharp gasoline price hikes,
particularly in wake of Hurricane Katrina

September 6, 2005

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today sharply questioned Guy Caruso, head of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about severe gasoline price hikes nationwide over the past year and following Hurricane Katrina, and particularly about increases in prices on the West Coast. At the hearing of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to examine factors contributing to current high prices, Wyden specifically pressed Mr. Caruso about steep gasoline price increases outpacing crude oil price increases, and potential post-hurricane price gouging even in the West. Wyden noted that the West Coast is often called “geographically isolated” from oil markets elsewhere in the country, but has seen increases of at least 15 cents per gallon immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.

Wyden: “Mr. Caruso, I don’t know how many times I have heard folks from your agency say that the West Coast is an isolated gasoline market. That’s been the agency’s position again and again. But even though the West Coast gets no gas from the Gulf, and West Coast refineries weren’t affected, oil companies raised prices on the West Coast of the United States immediately after Hurricane Katrina. So if the West Coast is geographically isolated from the gulf, as your agency has been maintaining, how can the oil industry legitimately justify these overnight price increases for West Coast dealers and consumers that followed Katrina?”

Mr. Caruso initially disagreed that the West Coast market was geographically isolated, but then stated that West Coast consumers were being hit by high gas prices both because the West Coast is isolated and also because the market has been affected by price hikes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Also at today’s hearing, Wyden questioned James Overdahl of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission as to why his agency is not investigating recent reports that some oil commodity traders made exponential profits in the days after the hurricane.

Senator Wyden has long been a leader in Congress in monitoring and fighting high gasoline prices. Wyden voted against the energy bill approved in July, in part because the legislation did not do anything to reduce gas prices facing American consumers. Since coming to the Senate, Wyden has released three investigative reports on the various factors contributing to gasoline and oil price increases, including Federal Trade Commission (FTC) inaction when it comes to protecting consumers. Wyden noted today that the FTC has not spoken about huge price increases in recent days, despite price levels having reached record highs. To read Wyden’s previous gasoline price reports, go to http://wyden.senate.gov/leg_issues/issue/special.html

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