AG Meets With BP, Warns Against Gas Price Gouging

Attorney General Lisa Madigan will meet today with BP officials about contaminated gasoline in Illinois and warned Illinois gas retailers earlier this week she'll have investigators on the lookout for gas stations price gouging for the Labor Day weekend.

While it is now widely known that BP gas stations sold contaminated gas in northern Illinois, Madigan said consumers who purchased gas at other retailers who were also selling the contaminated BP-supplied fuel. “From what we’ve learned, this problem was not isolated to just BP gas stations. Other retailers that receive gasoline from BP’s supply chain also potentially sold the contaminated gas to their customers,” Madigan said.

When the bad gas story broke last week, BP said the problem was limited to Indiana, then added southern Chicago, then most of the Chicago area and Milwaukee.

According to the latest information on BP's website, three area gas stations received contaminated gas, the BP and Meijer stations on Randall in Algonquin and the Thornton station in LITH. The list shows only mid and high grades of gasoline may have been contaminated, though.  A searchable list of all known stations supplied with contaminated BP gas is here:  http://www.bpresponse.com/go/doc/5207/1525963/

The Attorney General urged consumers who suspect they may have purchased contaminated BP gasoline on or after Aug. 13 to call the BP claims hotline at 1 (800) 333-3991 or 1 (800) 599-9040 or visit www.bpresponse.com to file a claim for reimbursement of fuel or repair costs.

Madigan said earlier this week that under state law her office can investigate gas prices if a natural disaster occurs which disrupts gasoline supply and price gouging occurs related to that supply disruption. Hurricane Isaac shut down some refineries and drilling platforms in the gulf coast region, “But I’m putting retailers on notice that these circumstances are not an excuse to gouge customers at the pump," said Madigan. "My office will be closely monitoring gas prices to ensure gas station owners are operating legally.”

A FEN random check of local gasoline stations Wednesday evening found prices for regular ranging from $3.99 to $4.29 per gallon. (Consistent with FEN's new handy dandy gas price widget, upper left.)  Interestingly, the high and low-priced stations were only 3/4 of a mile from each other. FEN found a $.13 price spread between two stations only a block from one another.