MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager is moving forward with her investigation into possible market manipulation by the major oil companies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Lautenschlager's office has issued civil investigative demands (CIDs)similar to subpoenasto 13 oil companies, requesting information related to the availability and sale of fuel in the weeks immediately prior to and after Katrina.
Something doesn't smell right when gasoline prices rise 20% to 40% while the price of oil is relatively [image-nocss] stable, Lautenschlager said. We need to find out who was profiting and by how much and why.
The CIDs seek information as to whether or not fuel shortages actually occurred and whether increased prices at retail stations in Wisconsin were justified in the wake of Katrina. Lautenschlager said the CIDs will be served initially on the following companies:
BP America Inc., Warranville, Ill. CHS Inc., Inner Grove Heights, Minn. Citgo Petroleum Corp., Wilmington, Del. CononcoPillips Co., Houston Murphy Oil USA Inc., El Dorado, Ark. Sinclair Oil Corp., Sincliar, Wyo. Transmontaigne Services Inc., Denver Western Petroleum Co., Eden Prairie, Minn. U.S. Oil Co. Inc., Combined Locks, Wis. Exxon Mobil Corp., Irving, Texas Marathon Petroleum Co., Findlay, Ohio Shell Oil Co., Wilmington, Del. Center Oil Co., St. LouisThe CIDs request that the companies produce all documentation relating to the purchase of fuel from suppliers, the distribution and delivery of fuel to retail stores, and the retail purchase of fuel as it relates to consumers in Wisconsin. Responses from the companies are to be provided by November 10.
Lautenschlager said that her office is also continuing to work closely with other states, primarily Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois, in evaluating and investigating possible violations as to the availability and price of gasoline in the Midwest. She said the Department of Justice is also anticipating several referrals from the Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection (DATCP) regarding violations of Wisconsin's consumer protection laws, which prohibit increasing the price of retail gasoline more than once in a 24-hour period.
Ultimately, however, she said the initial evidence as to who reaped excess profits points higher up the chain. Most gas stations saw their wholesale prices go up about as much as the customers' prices, she said. It appears that most of the retail stations were simply passing on their increased costs. Somewhere up the ladder, though, somebody was getting fat, and we intend to find out who that was.
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