Minge, Wellstone push for lower gas prices

By GUY PRIEL

Journal Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- In a conference call Friday, U.S. Congressman David Minge, DFL-Minn., praised the Federal Trade Commission's investigation into rising gas prices in the Midwest.

"Members of the Commission have subpoenaed records from producers and distributors as part of this investigation," Minge said. "The marketing situation in the Midwest can't account for the rising costs."

Many people are pointing fingers at Ethanol saying that the increased use of ethanol has driven gas prices higher in an attempt to stay competitive, he said.

"I am continuing to urge passage of legislation that will release the petroleum reserves," he said. "Everyone is feeling the pinch. This is a big issue in Congress and there has been no recommendation yet that offers a clear, effective response."

Reducing the gas tax, which has been proposed at the federal level, as well as at some state levels, is not an effective solution, because it removes funding from other designated programs, Minge said.

"There has been some push for better promotion of ethanol, because it can be produced at lower costs than gasoline, making it cheaper on the retail market," he said.

Farmers and truckers are feeling the pinch, because trucking companies are not being allowed to increase the cost of transporting goods, yet they continue to fight increased costs for fuel, he said.

"This situation could crate an economic disaster," he said. "If some oil companies are abusing this situation to reap enormous profits, we must deal with such activity swiftly and effectively."

One of the hopes of the investigation is to determine if there is some situation where price gouging or collusion is being practiced by oil companies, he said.

"I am worried that oil producers are using the new federal rules requiring cleaner-burning ethanol reformulated gasoline as a ploy for the increasing prices," Minge said.

There are 570 million barrels of petroleum placed in a Strategic Petroleum Reserve Program that was established following the 1973 oil shock to guard against similar drops in the international supply, which could be one solution to the problem, and Minge is urging President Clinton to take action.

"Nobody wants a return to the days when our country was crippled by sky-high gas prices," Senator Paul Wellstone, DFL-Minn., said during a separate interview. "I don't intend to stand by while people in our state get gouged at the pump. Action needs to be taken now, before we see prices in Minnesota climb as high as they have in Chicago."

There has been little attention to Minnesota markets during the investigation into Midwest prices, which Wellstone feels is an oversight that needs to be corrected soon.

According to information released from the Department of Energy, the retail price of gasoline in Minnesota has increased by over 35 percent, or 51 cents, since May 1.