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Photo by Bob Pennell A service station sign shows gas prices above $1.50 a gallon on Medford's Riverside Avenue Friday. Gas prices still highest in U.S. State joins Wyden in seeking federal probe By BILL VARBLE As Oregon motorists prepare to bid their traditional farewell to summer, one thing will stay put: the nation's highest gasoline prices. What are your thoughts on the high gas prices in Oregon? Drop by the Mail Tribune Opinion Page Forum and let us know. Prices for unleaded gas across Oregon currently average $1.56 a gallon. California's average is $1.55 and Nevada's is $1.50. Gas even costs more in Oregon than in Hawaii, which averages $1.49 a gallon, according to the American Automobile Association. The Oregon Department of Justice has joined Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in asking for federal help in investigating the high prices in the West. State Attorney General Hardy Myers said Thursday his office doesn't have an investigation under way, but he has discussed the issue with Federal Trade Commission officials. "The main thing I've done is to join Sen. Wyden's request for federal assistance," Myers said in a telephone interview Thursday. "We don't know if there's been illegal activity." Wyden has turned over the results of his investigation to the FTC. The agency is conducting its own inquiry but hasn't announced the outcome yet. AAA spokesman Bill Jackman said one reason for high gas prices at the pump is an increased cost in the price of crude oil from the Middle East. Crude oil prices were $10 a barrel at the beginning of the year, and are $20 a barrel now. Consumers, meanwhile, say they're mad as hell, and more than a few suspect collusion. In the early 1990s several major oil companies settled gasoline price-fixing suits with the Oregon Department of Justice. Count Ed Clark, of Medford, among those suspicious about the prices. He has relatives all over the country and travels a lot. "It's amazing what they get away with here," he said. "My brother in Michigan says regular is $1.16 where he lives. They don't recognize it in Medford when prices are dropping." Prices at some Rogue Valley gas pumps have dropped slightly after shooting up earlier this year. But Jackson County still has some of the highest gas prices in the state. When Clark took a driving trip through the Willamette Valley several weeks ago he says he bought gas in Salem for $1.35 a gallon, well below Medford prices. "Don't get me wrong," he said. "Some stations were higher, but I was able to buy it for that." Pat Kelly of Medford said that through her business she uses $400 to $600 worth of gas each month and avoids buying it at home. "We usually gas up in Eugene," she said. "It's usually three or four cents cheaper there. We'll stop and gas up in Grants Pass before we come home to Medford." Kelly owns a business transporting mental patients. That keeps one van and two sedans busy between the Rogue Valley and Klamath Falls and from Portland to Northern California. "When your gas bill gets higher and you're not using more gas, it hurts the pocketbook," she said. "You gas up in the morning, and in the afternoon it's two or three cents higher." Prices for regular gas in the Rogue Valley dipped into the $1.10 range early this year, then skyrocketed. By Memorial Day they were 30 cents a gallon higher here than the national average. Oil companies blamed fires and other problems at West Coast refineries and pipelines for the increases and denied rigging prices. Most of the gas sold in Oregon is refined in Puget Sound refineries and comes through the Olympic Pipeline from Anacortes, Wash., to Portland. Another pipeline runs to Eugene, from which gas is trucked to Southern Oregon. Steve Bruno of Medford never believed the claim that the sudden rise in prices was due to oil refinery fires. "I believe they wanted to get it to $1.50," he said. "Sen. Wyden says he's got evidence against the oil companies, but he's not giving it to us." Bruno said he and his wife boycott gas stations on holiday weekends and just stay home. A neighbor car pools. Clark suspects price fixing. "They are all into it," he said. "I think it's corporate," Kelly said. "I don't think it's the local guys." "We don't know the answer," Attorney General Myers said. "We want to see if there's any illegal activity or if it is a market-driven thing." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA