Giani, a Centerville resident, is director of the Utah Department of Commerce, which was asked by Governor Huntsman to investigate why Utah's gas prices were so much higher than most of the country.
Association spokesman Lee Peacock said he is in no position to put pressure on the refineries to disclose private details pertaining to the cost of crude oil.
"The information that was not disclosed was of a highly competitive nature and should not have been divulged," Peacock said. "We did everything we could to assist in this investigation, and the refineries felt it was not appropriate to give out these details."
Don Sorenson, spokesman for Tesoro Refinery Marketing said not only is it the refinery's choice, but also that disclosing the costs of crude oil could be illegal.
"We are a publicly held company and must adhere to the regulations put in place by the Federal Trade Commission," Sorenson said. "To publicly disclose the cost of crude oil could be seen as price collusion."
"We were not going to do that."
Sorenson said other information requested by Giani was either supplied or investigators were referred to the company Web site.
Giani said not having all of the information requested made it difficult to create the report.
"We made our report based on information we were supplied," Giani said.
Chevron spokesman Dan Johnson said he and Chevron brass offered Giani a sit-down meeting on three occasions and received no response.
"We made that offer verbally twice and in writing once," Johnson said. "We never heard anything until we read the negative reports in the media."
Johnson is referring to a story in a Salt Lake City newspaper that quoted Giani as saying, "They (the refineries) essentially said, 'Kiss off.'"
"I'm very disappointed that Mrs. Giani said that about us," Johnson said. "We have tried to do what we could to be of assistance." Giani's report ultimately pointed the finger at retailers for the high gas prices, saying they are "gouging" Utah drivers.
sschulte@davisclipper.com
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