Alaska State Legislature
News from the House Special Committee on Economic Development

State Capitol, Room 414
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
Phone: (907) 465-4945
web site: www.akrepublicans.org/Sanders.htm
Actuality line: 1-800-478-6540

Why are Fuel Prices in Alaska so High?

Economic Development Committee to Hold Hearing

For Immediate Release: March 13, 1998 Contact: Rep. Jerry Sanders (907) 465-4945.

Juneau -- Gasoline prices in the Lower 48 have fallen well below the dollar-a-gallon level, but prices in Alaska remain well over that one-dollar level, and the Chairman of the House Special Committee on Economic Development wants to know why. Representative Jerry Sanders (R-Anchorage) has announced that his committee will hold a teleconference hearing into the discrepancy Thursday, March 19, 1998, at 5PM in Room 17 of the State Capitol in Juneau.

"A March 7th Los Angeles Times article says gasoline prices in California, where refiners pay $15 a barrel for crude, have fallen below 90-cents a gallon," said Representative Jerry Sanders (R-Anchorage). "A second article, from the March 11th New York Times, entitled 'In a land of cheap gas, Atlanta has the cheapest: $.799 per gallon,' notes that Atlanta benefits from its proximity to two pipelines and refiners were buying crude for $14.26 a barrel," Sanders said.

"The North Pole Refinery is less than three miles from a pipeline selling Alaskan crude for $11.70 on that very same day, yet the pump price in Fairbanks is $1.259," Sanders said. "There is truly a mystery here, a mystery that has lasted over 25 years," Sander said.

Sanders said there seems to be a serious question whether the Department of Natural Resources is living up to its constitutional mandate by selling Alaska's royalty oil to a business outside the state, which then turns around and sells a refined product back to Alaskans at almost double the price outside Alaska.

"The Alaska Constitution clearly says that both the State and the Legislature must encourage development of resources in the maximum public interest," Sanders said. "If there is a breach of public policy here we need to fish it out and do something about it. This hearing is a necessary first step."

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Broadcasters note: Actuality from Rep. Sanders is available at 1-800-478-6540.
= Jerry Sanders, 78 K