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. The ruling comes in a case originally filed several years ago, in which the oil company was accused of price gouging following disasters.
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 a related development, Gov. Steve Beshear's office says the State of Emergency declared last month is being extended for another month.
