By Tony McVeigh
Frankfort, KY – A Frankfort judge, in a price gouging case against Marathon Petroleum, has refused to force the oil company to roll back gas prices in Kentucky. Kentucky Public Radio's Tony McVeigh has details of the judge's ruling.
In the wake of April flooding, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway accused Marathon Petroleum of price gouging during a State of Emergency declared on April 26th.
Conway wanted Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate to order Marathon to roll back gas prices to pre-emergency levels, but Wingate has refused to do so.
In a 10-page order, Wingate says Conway failed to prove Marathon's price increases were unrelated to any increased cost to the seller, despite the oil giant's admitted use of the spot market to set those prices.
Although the request for injunctive relief is denied, the original price gouging case against Marathon, initiated in 2007 in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, continues.
In response, Attorney General Jack Conway has released the following statement: "I pursued this case to protect the best interests of consumers across the Commonwealth, who are hurting right now. Today's ruling is limited to this particular injunction, and the judge was clear that it does not affect the ongoing and underlying price-gouging case against Marathon. I believe Marathon has engaged in price gouging, and we plan to aggressively pursue that case."