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Florida Pursues Anti-Trust Probe Of Gas Prices

December 14, 2004
The State of Florida is investigating recent jumps in gas prices, demanding information from a major fuel supplier. State Attorney General Charlie Crist has filed a petition asking a Tallahassee court to forcel Amerada Hess Corporation to comply with a demand to produce information required by antitrust investigators.

Crist opened a formal antitrust investigation earlier this year into pricing, production, inventory and cost of gasoline, subpoenaing eleven oil companies, including Amerada Hess. The companies were required to comply by June 30, 2004, but Amerada Hess requested, and received, extensions to the deadline.

While some documents were provided, Crist said Amerada Hess failed to produce all required documents. Hess also has failed to respond to a second subpoena served on October 22, which requested different documents and information.

"The people of Florida want to know why their fuel prices are so high," said Crist. "Only by obtaining the full picture of the process by which prices are determined can we give them a true accounting. We are asking the court to help us fill in missing pieces of the puzzle."

The attorney general's investigation was launched following a spike in oil prices that led to an average price that ultimately reached more than $2 per gallon of gasoline. Prices rose dramatically despite the fact that no significant reductions in world supply occurred. Among the goals of the investigation, Crist says, is to determine whether any entity involved with the production, refining, sale, trading or marketing of gasoline was involved in conduct that violates the antitrust laws.

Crist says that while the oil companies have generally complied with the demands for information, additional information becomes necessary as the investigation proceeds. The latest filing asks the court to order Amerada Hess to provide information requested in both the first and second subpoenas.

Among the information sought was how the company sets its wholesale and retail prices, the amount of gas produced at its refineries and sold in Florida, its participation in the oil and gas futures markets, and its participation in trade associations and meetings with its competitors.

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