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N.M. senators want hearing on oil, gas prices
Last Update: 08/20/2005 6:10:53 PM
By: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - New Mexico Senators Jeff Bingaman and Pete Domenici want to get to the bottom of high gasoline prices.

Domenici is the Republican chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Bingaman is the committee’s leading Democrat.

They say they’ll hold a Senate committee hearing on the issue Sept. 8.

Experts will talk about whether global oil demand, increased speculation in the futures market or price gouging are contributing to the high prices.

The senators say they hope that will help Congress take action to bring prices down.

They say the average retail price for regular gasoline increased by 18.2 cents the week of Aug. 8.

That’s the largest one-week increase on record. It brought the average price of gas to $2.55 a gallon.



(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)