Proof of gasoline price gouging illusive

WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- Attorneys general in at least nine U.S. states are looking for evidence that current high gasoline prices are a result of price gouging.

But so far they have found nothing illegal, USA Today reported Tuesday.

State data for 2006 show crude oil prices have risen 14 percent, but the difference between what oil companies pay for crude oil and the prices consumers pay at the pump has jumped 130 percent.

Part of the reason that doesn't constitute price gouging is that the United States has an acute shortage of refining capacity and must, therefore, import most of the gasoline -- not just crude oil -- it needs, experts say.

Washington attorney General Rob McKenna conceded that gasoline "prices are influenced by the basic laws of supply and demand."

Charges of price gouging are standard fare in U.S. politics when energy prices jump.

California's Energy Commission, for instance, acknowledges in an explanation of fuel prices on its Web site: "Rumors and charges of collusion among the oil companies have been raised for decades with nothing ever proven."