Published: September 13, 2008 08:16 pm      

Manchin: Eyes on gas gouging

BLUEFIELD — West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin acted quickly to prevent gas stations from making profits over public fears related to the damage at of some of the Gulf Coast refineries hit by Hurricane Ike.

“We saw what was happening and acted quickly to prevent anyone from making excessive profits regardless of what happens as a result of the hurricane,” Manchin said following his formal remarks at a ceremony at the Bluefield Elks Lodge honoring emergency responders.

Manchin explained that by declaring a state of emergency, retail gasoline stations are only allowed to raise their price per gallon by 10 percent. “That means that if you were paying $3.80 for a gallon of gas yesterday, at the most, you should only have to pay an additional .38 cents tomorrow unless the station can show how its costs have increased more than that,” Manchin said.

“We will be watching it closely, and we will prosecute if we find stations over-charging the public,” Manchin said.

Jimmy Gianato, the director of the state’s division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said that the State Attorney General’s Office will be prosecuting violators through its consumer protection program.

“We knew there was a potential for this to happen, but I think it will be settling down pretty soon,” Gianato said. “We have been working closely with the trade association to make sure no one is violating the law and the governor has granted overtime waivers for truck transporters to bring fuel into the state if necessary.”

Gianato said his office is watching the developments almost on a moment-by-moment basis. “A lot will depend on the assessments after the storm passes,” Gianato said. “When the governor activated the state of emergency, we sent our National Guard guys to aid in the recovery, but they have been hunkered down in Louisiana since (Friday) night. Hopefully, they’ll be able to get into Texas soon so they can help.”

Gianato said the most recent storm track projections he has seen indicate that the storm should pass to the north of West Virginia.

Nationally, gas prices jumped Saturday as Ike pounded the refinery rich regions of Texas and Louisiana, threatening to shut down the nation’s vast energy complex in the Gulf of Mexico for days, the Associated Press reported.

Gas prices nationwide rose nearly 6 cents a gallon to $3.733, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.

The cost for a gallon of gas could head back toward all-time highs of $4-per-gallon, reached over the summer when oil prices neared $150 a barrel, according to the AP.

Geoff Sundstrom, AAA’s fuel price analyst in Orlando, Fla., told the AP that Ike has disrupted supply at the wholesale level in the Gulf Coast, where prices struck $4.85 a gallon Friday.

Refineries may remain shut-in for days, even if there was no serious wind damage or flooding.

“The reality is, we’re facing a temporary shortage in wholesale gasoline,” he said.