As usual I don't expect anything to come out of this.
11-27-2012
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012...eedType=RSS&feedName=industrialsSector&rpc=43
Senators ask U.S. to probe Calif. gasoline prices
California largely cut off from US fuel delivery network
Senators say refiners may have falsely reported unit status
Six U.S. senators on Tuesday called for the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether market manipulation by West Coast oil refiners contributed to a price spike in May and October that sent gasoline prices to record highs above $5 a gallon.
The senators, all Democrats, want the Justice Department to conduct a "refinery-by-refinery probe" and subpoena records from California refineries to see whether public reports of maintenance shutdowns were accurate.
"We are requesting a Department of Justice investigation of possible market manipulation and false reporting by oil refineries, which may have created a perception of a supply shortage when in fact refineries were still producing," the senators said in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
The senators cited a report from independent energy consultant Robert McCullough that said two West Coast refineries continued to operate throughout May despite reports they were shut for maintenance.
A report issued on Nov. 15 by McCullough Research found that during gasoline price spikes in May and October in California, when drops in production were being blamed for the increases, gasoline inventories actually rose across the state, home to the nation's largest gasoline market.
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