A gas price probe

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is calling for an investigation into Utah's high gasoline prices, which on Friday ranked as the fourth highest in the nation.

At an average of $2.92, Utah's price for a gallon of regular self-serve gasoline on Friday was 15 percent higher than the national average of $2.55. Only Hawaii, Alaska and Idaho posted higher average prices than Utah, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Report.

Mike Mower, a spokesman for the governor, said the investigation will seek to determine why Utah's gasoline prices "remain so stubbornly high while gas prices are falling dramatically across the nation."

"Our concern here is that traditionally Utahns have not been among those in the country who have paid the highest amounts for gasoline," Mower said. "You have residents in Iowa who are paying up to a dollar a gallon less than Utahns."

Mower said more than 100 Utahns have called the governor's office in the past week expressing concern over steep prices.

John Hill, executive director of the Utah Petroleum Marketers and Retailers Association, told the Deseret Morning News earlier this week that three of Utah's five refineries recently were shut down due to maintenance, keeping the state's gasoline prices near record levels.

Mark Walker, past president of the Western Petroleum Marketers Association, an eight-state organization, blames recent oil company mega-mergers for skyrocketing prices.

The United States has four main oil suppliers — ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil, Shell and BP, which owns Amoco and Arco.

"The oil companies have a philosophy. Basically, prices go up like a rocket and down like a feather," Walker said. "When a bullet flies in Lebanon, they react to it. They use a fear factor, and our prices shoot up 20 cents. It's the major oil companies that are causing the problem. The innocent people in this are the retailers."

Walker added that small, independently owned retailers are taking most of the heat from customers who are fed up with high gasoline prices and record oil-company profits.

Local gasoline retailers, Walker said, are likely to make more money off a 32-ounce fountain soft drink than a gallon of gasoline. For many retailers, revenue margins on gasoline are thin, typically ranging from 10 cents to 25 cents a gallon.