Investigation into gas prices finds no gouging
Posted: Tuesday, January 31, 2006
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Gasoline prices in Nebraska have not been unconscionably high, concluded a task force report written by three university professors called together by Attorney General Jon Bruning.
"While Nebraska prices did increase dramatically, the task force found no evidence of collusion or gouging among retailers," Bruning said Monday.
In fact, prices in Nebraska did not go up as much as in other states last year following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which destroyed refineries in the Gulf Coast, said Ernie Goss, a Creighton University economics professor who led the study.
Retailers in Nebraska based their prices on what the market would bear, the study found.
The higher gas prices in Nebraska from June 2004 to October 2005 were due primarily to an increase in the price of crude oil, with declines in refinery capacity and an increase in the share of oil imported also contributing, the report said.
There was no illegal activity or criminal conduct, Bruning said.
There is no specific Nebraska law prohibiting price gouging on gasoline, but charges can be brought under laws dealing with deceptive trade practices.
The price charged for gasoline last year in Nebraska did not rise to the level of unconscionability, as is required under the law, the professors' study determined.
Nebraskans fared better by not having laws that encumbers price movement both up and down, Goss said.
Other state and federal studies looking at gas prices have found no violations of law and instead concluded that competitive markets affected by worldwide conditions determine the price at the pump, the task force said.
Nearly all of the price increases seen at gas stations across the state were due to higher wholesale prices, the report said. Retail prices rose faster nationwide than they did in Nebraska cities following the hurricanes in September and October, the report said.
Gas prices were studied in about 600 stations in 20 Nebraska cities.
According to AAA-Nebraska, the highest retail gas prices in Nebraska and nationwide occurred in early September, just before Bruning formed the task force.
The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Nebraska on Monday was $2.33, compared with a national average of $2.34. At the time the study was launched in late September, the average price in Nebraska was $2.78 a gallon, three cents below the national average.
Assisting Goss with the report were Creighton University business law professor Edward Morse and Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research and an associate economics professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
"While Nebraska prices did increase dramatically, the task force found no evidence of collusion or gouging among retailers," Bruning said Monday.
In fact, prices in Nebraska did not go up as much as in other states last year following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which destroyed refineries in the Gulf Coast, said Ernie Goss, a Creighton University economics professor who led the study.
Retailers in Nebraska based their prices on what the market would bear, the study found.
The higher gas prices in Nebraska from June 2004 to October 2005 were due primarily to an increase in the price of crude oil, with declines in refinery capacity and an increase in the share of oil imported also contributing, the report said.
There was no illegal activity or criminal conduct, Bruning said.
There is no specific Nebraska law prohibiting price gouging on gasoline, but charges can be brought under laws dealing with deceptive trade practices.
The price charged for gasoline last year in Nebraska did not rise to the level of unconscionability, as is required under the law, the professors' study determined.
Nebraskans fared better by not having laws that encumbers price movement both up and down, Goss said.
Other state and federal studies looking at gas prices have found no violations of law and instead concluded that competitive markets affected by worldwide conditions determine the price at the pump, the task force said.
Nearly all of the price increases seen at gas stations across the state were due to higher wholesale prices, the report said. Retail prices rose faster nationwide than they did in Nebraska cities following the hurricanes in September and October, the report said.
Gas prices were studied in about 600 stations in 20 Nebraska cities.
According to AAA-Nebraska, the highest retail gas prices in Nebraska and nationwide occurred in early September, just before Bruning formed the task force.
The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Nebraska on Monday was $2.33, compared with a national average of $2.34. At the time the study was launched in late September, the average price in Nebraska was $2.78 a gallon, three cents below the national average.
Assisting Goss with the report were Creighton University business law professor Edward Morse and Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research and an associate economics professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
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