State of New Jersey Sues 3 Oil Companies

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by Washington Post »New Jersey Sues Three Oil CompaniesBy ANGELA DELLI SANTIThe Associated PressTuesday, September 27, 2005; 6:35 AMTRENTON, N.J. -- New Jersey has sued three oil companies and several gas stations for allegedly gouging drivers during Hurricane Katrina.The lawsuits accuse Hess, Motiva Shell and Sunoco with artificially inflating gas prices and for increasing prices more than the once-a-day legal limit. Independent gas station operators selling Hess, Shell, Sunoco and Citgo brands were also sued."The goal here is to protect consumers' hard-earned money from artificial inflation and economic exploitation," Attorney General Peter C. Harvey said Monday. "Some of these dealers were using Katrina to artificially inflate the price, because there were sufficient supplies that this kind of pricing did not have to occur."The civil action is believed to be the first in the country in response to recent rising gasoline prices. The defendants are accused of violating New Jersey's motor fuels and consumer fraud acts.The investigation began after consumers started complaining about steep and sudden rises in gas prices just before Labor Day weekend. New Jersey gas prices hit their highest-ever levels on Labor Day at an average of $3.16 per gallon of regular.The complaint also claims that drivers were charged for more gasoline than they received, or that they were charged for premium gas but given regular.The lawsuits seek restitution for customers who were overcharged, Harvey said.Anne Peebles, a spokeswoman for Motiva Shell, said she did not know of the lawsuit but said the company does not "condone price-gouging and we work closely with local officials in any investigation."Jay Wilson, a vice president at Hess, said he hadn't seen the suit and would not comment. Sunoco did not return calls.Fines are up $10,000 for Consumer Fraud Act violations and up to $200 for violating the Motor Fuels Act.Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/....html

[bud_one]

Texas needs to follow New Jersey's lead....I've seen many a gas station around here change prices at least two times a day.... drive by in the morning - gone up from the previous nightand drive home after work and it's gone up again....dang oil companies....

[ColonelPanic]

Good for them. It's flat out criminal in my mind, seeing some of the things these oil companies are doing to us. I can't see 'em using the excuse of "we need the money to repair our equipment," I doubt that much of it is going there. It's lining somebody's pockets instead. Like I've said before, despite the tremendous "losses" the industry has felt this year, I think those greedy slimeballs are still going to end up making fat profits after they pay their bills when it is all said and done.Wrong. Just wrong. Hey, I hope I'm wrong. But I don't know about that...

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by bud_one »Texas needs to follow New Jersey's lead....I've seen many a gas station around here change prices at least two times a day.... drive by in the morning - gone up from the previous nightand drive home after work and it's gone up again....dang oil companies....In a very rare instance, I concur that New Jersey has done something worthwhile I've seen places here change the price 3 or more times in a day.

[JustinVGT]

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »Like I've said before, despite the tremendous "losses" the industry has felt this year, I think those greedy slimeballs are still going to end up making fat profits after they pay their bills when it is all said and done.Last Sunday in my Washington Post they had an article about the gas prices. They said the oil companies have been making record profits, I thought they said way above last year. I wish I could find the article.

[Bobtronique]

That's bad for all of us because this increase in the gas price has the bad effect to increase the price for all the services we are paying for too.This will lead the country and neighbour contry in the bankrup...And it will not cease tomorrow. Gas will go up, and up, and up again!I do not want to be fatalistic, but my pay is not increasing the same way unfortunately. Again, the poor peoples will suffer mostly.

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by Bobtronique »That's bad for all of us because this increase in the gas price has the bad effect to increase the price for all the services we are paying for too.This will lead the country and neighbour contry in the bankrup...And it will not cease tomorrow. Gas will go up, and up, and up again!I do not want to be fatalistic, but my pay is not increasing the same way unfortunately. Again, the poor peoples will suffer mostly. You're so right about all that. This is going to hurt us all, and we haven't seen anything yet. As you said, the prices for everything is going to go up. If a product or service involves transportation, we're going to see it - and I can't really think of much that I rely on that doesn't use any sort of transportation. Everything is going up. It has been going up. But like you, my paycheck has not. The way the economy is anymore, you're lucky to be employed so you might as well forget about raises for several years... I'm sure there are millions of people out there who can say the same.The oil companies aren't realizing the damage they are doing to entire economies, and seeing how the US government is looking the other way... Perhaps they do know what they are doing, and that's why they continue to drive us even closer to broke. They'll still have plenty of money left in the bank though. I'm not sure what good trillions of dollars would be for someone if the economy has all but collapsed and there are no services left to use that money with. I'll definitely be trying to make every penny count, and although I have not much, I will be more than happy to help someone who has less. Very tough times ahead for those who aren't rich.