Grassley says oil officials not willing to answer questions about gas prices

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says legislators “got the run around” Wednesday in talks about high gas prices in the midwest. Grassley and several other legislators met with EPA Administrator Carol Browner, representatives from the American Petroleum Institute and representatives from four midwestern oil refineries. In a prepared statement after the meeting, Grassley says some small progress was made.The meeting revealed that the wholesale price of gas has gone down 25 cents since last Thursday, but that reduction hasn’t been passed on to consumers. Grassley says the officials “talked in circles” when asked to explain why prices are going up.Grassley believes it’s an effort to discredit corn-based ethanol as a gasoline additive.Grassley says government officials need to keep the pressure on the oil companies to lower prices.Grassley says the oil companies need to adjust their pricing policies to “the common sense of the midwest.”