The gasoline market may have been manipulated during the spike in prices following Hurricane Katrina, but the gouging didn’t occur on the local, retail level, according to Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe.

Rowe’s office studied the rapid increases in gasoline prices for six weeks after receiving numerous complaints from consumers. The findings pointed to actions on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where speculators were able to drive prices through the roof with little oversight, and consolidation in the refinery industry.

Huge profits were made, but not by the gas station owners in Maine, who were forced to react, just like everyone else, to a market gone wild.

“I am convinced that the time has come for the federal government to commission an independent, professional, in-depth study of the markets,” Rowe wrote to the state’s congressional delegation.

Forty-five states are currently investigating the increase in gasoline and oil prices in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But Rowe is correct: What’s needed is a national review.

The federal government has allowed mergers in the refining industry to go too far, leaving little competition or incentive for innovation.

Rowe’s investigation is important because it has the potential to restore confidence among consumers in their local oil and gasoline dealers, but the problem of a volatile energy market that is prone to manipulation requires a national response.