That may not have as much effect in Utah. Peacock says, "To this point, Utah has not been subject to many of the same fuel blend requirements that have been prevalent in other parts of the country" because pollution was not as bad here.

He adds, "Up until a year ago, we were required in the winter to provide oxygenated fuel, which was mainly an ethanol blend, in Utah County. Because of improving air-quality circumstances, that requirement has been lifted."

Still, tightening restrictions on fuel standards have an effect here as well as elsewhere. For example, beginning in June, new blends of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel will be required all over the nation.

"The air-quality benefits of taking all that sulfur out of diesel are going to be significant for the county and Utah. The downside is that those upgrades in fuel specifications have required significant upgrades in plants and refineries," Peacock says. "Those costs are being incorporated into the price of fuel all over the country."

A similar development is phasing out the additive MTBE around the country because it is a potential groundwater contaminant. It once provided up to 10 percent of the volume of gasoline, and now it is being replaced with more expensive ethanol or gasoline, Peacock says.

Oil companies also contend that tough environmental regulations make it nearly impossible to build more refineries to increase fuel supplies — and they have responded by expanding existing refineries.

The American Petroleum Institute statement to the Senate says, "Twenty years ago, there were 200 refineries producing about 250 billion gallons of product. Today, there are just 148 making 330 billion gallons per year."

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who has pushed for tax benefits to encourage new or expanded refineries, has said that more than 200 refineries have closed in America since 1970, and no new ones have opened since then.

Exploration vs. environment

Oil companies complain that government red tape or bans also hinder where they can explore for oil.

For example, President Clinton in 1996 created the vast 1.9 million acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, preventing planned coal mining there, as well as potential oil and gas exploration. And Congress has fought for years about whether to allow drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and blocked it so far.

Expressing the view of both oil and natural gas companies, Questar President Keith Rattie told a congressional hearing in 2003, "We're not running out of of natural gas, and we're not running out of places to look for natural gas. However, we are running out of places where we are allowed to look for gas."