Regulators say '06 gas hike caused by market forces

WASHINGTON — Market forces, not price gouging, caused the cost of gasoline to rise during the spring and summer of 2006, according to a report sent to President Bush Thursday by federal antitrust regulators.

The report said U.S. pump prices surged — as high as $3.02 a gallon, on average, in mid-August — as a result of increased customer demand, the rising cost of crude oil and ethanol, refinery outages and other factors.

"Our targeted examination of major refinery outages revealed no evidence that refiners conspired to restrict supply or otherwise violated the antitrust laws," according to the report by the Federal Trade Commission.

But the five-member FTC's vote to issue the report was not unanimous. Commissioner Jon Leibowitz issued a dissenting statement that said the oil industry should not view the findings "in any way a vindication of its behavior."

Leibowitz said the FTC simply developed a "theoretical model for why gasoline prices likely increased."