LOCKYER PROBES GAS PRICE SPIKES; ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS LEGAL ACTION POSSIBLE.

Byline: Troy Anderson Daily News Staff Writer

Amid seemingly random, dramatic hikes in gas prices, Attorney General Bill Lockyer said Wednesday he is investigating whether oil companies are gouging motorists at the pump.

Lockyer said he is suspicious of the recent 45- to 50-cent-a-gallon spike, and his probe will include whether price fixing and recent mergers of Mobil and Exxon, Arco and British Petroleum played a role. He said he is perplexed why gasoline costs an average of 98 cents per gallon in Georgia as compared to $1.70 in California.

``The oil industry's explanations that were provided involve the refinery fires in the Bay Area and OPEC's policies that have increased the world price of oil,'' Lockyer said.

``It's very difficult to accept their explanation because there is a greater supply of oil products on hand and a larger production of new products this month compared to a year ago. If those factors affect the price, it would seem to be a reason for the price to be going down, not up,'' he said.

His investigation could lead to legal action, in an effort to force oil companies to drop prices, he said.

The investigation adds to the government's growing response to gas price hikes, including a request for a Justice Department probe of price fixing and a Los Angeles City Council vote protesting the cost of gas.

At the pumps Wednesday, motorists uniformly welcomed Lockyer's investigation as a step toward price relief.

``I think that's smart,'' said Rebecca Feldman, 23, a Woodland Hills resident who stopped for a tank of gas at Ventura Shell in Woodland Hills. ``Everybody has to have gas, especially in L.A. It's a commodity we can't do without.''

Paul Langland, spokesman for Arco in Los Angeles, said the oil industry has not colluded in setting prices.

``In this case, in a very short period of time, four refineries on the West Coast have had production problems,'' he said. ``When you have that much of a tightening of supply, you'll see price increases.''

With the supply of gasoline now coming back, Langland said prices should start coming down at the pump.

Langland noted that the difference in prices of gasoline between Georgia and California is mostly due to differences in taxes and air quality guidelines.

Californians, who are burdened with the fourth-highest gasoline tax in the country, pay 48 cents a gallon in federal, state and local taxes, compared with 38.4 cents a gallon in Georgia.

``We also have the cleanest-burning gasoline in the world,'' Langland said. ``The California Air Resources Board estimates that gasoline here costs an additional 5 to 15 cents a gallon than gasoline found in the rest of the United States.''

Gasoline industry experts agreed with Langland that prices should start to drop. Heralding that, they said, is that gasoline prices are falling on the New York Mercantile Exchange, mostly due to reports that supplies are much larger than expected.

Claudia Chandler, spokeswoman for the California Energy Commission, said prices have already dropped at the wholesale levels.

``Some retailers are actually posting lower prices,'' Chandler said.

Gas station owners said the cut in prices couldn't come soon enough. Lockyer's probe was prompted by his recent meeting with station owners and others who decried the ``inexplicable, illogical, random spikes'' in gasoline prices in California, said Nathan Barankin, spokesman for the attorney general's office.

Ventura Shell Manager Bud Clark in Woodland Hills said the high prices are placing him between the oil companies and his customers.

``They raise the prices on us, and we have to pass it on to the public,'' he said. ``Otherwise, we'd have to close the doors, and there wouldn't be any gas for anybody. It's hurting us now because people aren't driving as much.''

Clark has been at the corner of Ventura Boulevard and De Soto Avenue for 18 years. He is paying $1.09 per gallon for regular unleaded and is charging customers $1.59. But he said he only makes 2 to 3 cents a gallon profit after paying state and federal taxes.

In a federal move Wednesday mirroring Lockyer's actions, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked the Justice Department to look into a pattern of price collusion and possible anti-trust violations by the oil industry to assess the reasons behind the recent 31 percent rise in gasoline prices on the West Coast.

``While some price increases may well be attributable to a tightening of overseas supplies and to a recent series of refinery fires, the size and pattern of recent price hikes certainly raises questions of anti-competitive practices by the gas companies,'' Wyden wrote in a letter to the Justice Department.

Mona Post, 83, of Lake Sherwood, called the high prices ``ridiculous.''

``I think it's really ugly,'' she said, while putting $20 worth of premium into her Lexus. ``I have all kinds of money, but I shop for gasoline.''

Daily News Staff Writer Steve Carney contributed to this story.

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Chart: Comparing gas prices