The front page of the Deseret News on Dec. 4 carried an article regarding the huge jump in gasoline prices at the same time the price of crude oil was falling. Paul Ashton, executive director, Utah Petroleum Producer's Association, was quoted as saying the price of gasoline at the pump usually follows the price of crude by about 30 days.
Apparently either the petroleum industry has been asleep for the past couple of years or it thinks the consumer has been. The retailers have been playing "yo-yo" economics with the price of gasoline for at least two years while the price of crude has been falling continuously.Ashton says consumers don't understand gasoline pricing. What they don't understand is the mechanism employed by the gasoline industry for jumping prices uniformly throughout the valley at the same instant. This happens every time and has for years, so who do they think they are kidding?
A grand jury investigation is needed to supply the answer to this question. The consumer has the right to be protected from violations of the antitrust laws, and the attorney general's office is paid to represent the consumer in such matters. The petroleum industry has given ample evidence that it needs to be regulated.
Lynn G. Twede
Salt Lake City