Bush: US to watch for gas price-gouging

WASHINGTON – President George W. Bush said on Tuesday he is “concerned” about high gasoline prices, and pledged that the U.S. government will keep a close watch out for profiteering.

“I’m concerned about higher gasoline prices,” Bush said at a Rose Garden news conference to name new staff appointments.

“The government has the responsibility to make sure that we watch very carefully and investigate possible price-gouging, and we will do just that,” Bush said in unprompted remarks about energy prices.

U.S. crude oil futures hit a record of $70.88 a barrel on Tuesday on fears of supply disruptions in Iran stemming from its nuclear standoff with the West, as well as lingering outages in Nigeria.

Reuters