|
|
| |
| Sun, Nov. 23, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
Consumers questioning the bang bucks bring at pump Wednesday, Jul 9, 2008 By Jason Wiest Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Whether gasoline is warm enough at Arkansas pumps to diminish its energy content is a point of contention among officials that has each side saying the other is full of hot air. A nationwide, class-action lawsuit alleges that the oil industry and gas station owners are guilty of consumer fraud and conspiracy because the gas many motorists pump, particularly in the summertime, is warmer than the industry standard 60 degrees, which causes gas to expand. With gas prices hovering around $4 a gallon, class representatives from Arkansas and 25 other states, as well as the District of Columbia and Guam, contend in the federal suit filed in Missouri that motorists are not getting their money's worth at the pump. But Tim Chesser, assistant deputy director of the Arkansas Bureau of Standards, says the argument lacks merit in Arkansas. "That's really a non-issue for this state," Chesser said Tuesday. "The gas isn't heated to a degree that makes a difference." Not so, says John Siebert, project team leader for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, a trucking industry trade group. Siebert cites data collected by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which shows the average temperature of fuel in Arkansas year-round is 71.3 degrees, and 81.9 degrees in the summertime. "It could be, but I doubt it. I sincerely doubt it," Chesser said. "We don't have any evidence to indicate that that's correct." The bureau also has no evidence to indicate Siebert's information is incorrect. When the bureau conducts random, unannounced tests at gas stations or follows up on consumer complaints, the gasoline's temperature is not tested, Chesser said. It's possible the bureau has never checked temperatures because it does not have the resources, he said. "This whole lawsuit is based on energy content," Chesser said. "We don't regulate energy content. We regulate volume, and a gallon is a gallon." In terms of volume, a gallon is indeed a gallon, but not in terms of getting what you pay for, Siebert said. Gasoline expands 1 percent per 15 degrees, meaning the 81.9-degree average temperature gas that Arkansas stations pump in the summer has 1.46 percent less energy than gas at 60 degrees, Siebert said. Attorneys for consumers in the lawsuit estimate that on average, each motorist has to spend an extra $40 to $100 annually to cover the difference caused by the heat expansion of gasoline. Retailers and oil industry representatives deny their annual windfall is as large as the $1.3 billion some analysts estimate. El Dorado-based Murphy Oil Corp. is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, along with numerous other oil companies. A spokeswoman for Murphy Oil did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment Tuesday. On Tuesday, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Arkansas was $3.95, according to AAA. One month ago, the average price was $3.849 per gallon, while the average price was $2.859 a year ago. Consumer complaints about gas stations have risen along with the price of gasoline, Chesser said. Just a few months ago, the bureau was receiving about three to five complaints per week, Chesser said. Now, the bureau gets about three to five complaints every day, he said. It received eight complaints before noon Tuesday. Each complaint is investigated by one of the bureau's 12 inspectors. Roughly 2 percent of those inspections find a pump at a gas station out of compliance, but no information is gathered concerning the temperature of gasoline, Chesser said. "We haven't done a temperature study," he said. "We don't see the need and it hasn't been mandated. Unless somebody mandates it, I certainly don't have the resources for it." |
