Why are gasoline
prices so high
in Alaska?

LET US ADD our voice to the growing cry: Why are our gasoline prices so much higher than the rest of the nation?

On Friday, the average price in Oklahoma was $2.27 a gallon for regular, and in some cities it was considerably cheaper. The price of regular in Texas as 2.49 a gallon. The national average was a bit more, $2.73 a gallon for regular.

In fact, in the 10 states with the lowest prices, regular gasoline was selling . . .

(con't from front page) from $2.27 to $2.49. The trend, by the way, was downward.

In Alaska? Regular gasoline was selling in Anchorage for anywhere between $3.44 a gallon to $3.49 a gallon. In rural areas it was much more. And remember, our gasoline tax was suspended. The price would be even higher with the levy.

The Legislature is getting edgy, and that can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what it does, and the attorney general's office has an investigation under way.

None of the witnesses testifying during a legislative hearing this week in Anchorage could explain the price disparity with the rest of the country, angering lawmakers.

According to the Anchorage Daily News: Rep. Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage, said it's clear to him that wholesalers, refiners and distributors, are mainly responsible for the prices motorists see at the pumps, not the gas stations. And he predicted that unless the wholesalers bring their prices more in line with national norms, lawmakers might hit them with price controls come the start of the next session in January.

That would mean more and tougher regulations for Alaska's already struggling pair of refineries. And more regulations seldom mean increased profits.

The arguments offered over the years to explain Alaska's gasoline prices have ranged from the state being such a small market, to a lack of refining capacity, to a lack of competition.

But lawmakers and Alaskans are tiring of the excuses and the painfully higher prices. Unfortunately, more regulations may not be the answer. Hawaii, apparently, tried regulation to no avail.

Whatever the attorney general's investigators unearth, or the Legislature decrees, the refineries and middlemen in Alaska's gasoline trade should be getting the message. The handwriting is on the wall. Things may change for the worse in their world if they do not act to reduce prices to conform with the rest of the country.