TALLAHASSEE -- The oil giant ExxonMobil claims Florida's price gouging law is too vague and that the company might not supply fuel in future emergencies if the law isn't clarified.

The company wants Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson to clarify what Florida means when it uses subjective language such as ``grossly exceeds'' or ``gross disparity'' in its price gouging law. Agency rules don't define the terms, the company said in a petition filed Friday with Bronson's office.

``These several terms and phrases remain undefined,'' ExxonMobil spokesman Kevin Allexon said. ``It's pretty hard to know what is required of us should we find ourselves in a declared emergency.''

For the past year, Bronson's agency has been investigating whether ExxonMobil overcharged suppliers in the days and weeks after Hurricane Ike struck the state in September 2008. The company has not been charged with any violations and notes that it has never been found to have violated price gouging laws.

INTERPRETATION

In its petition, ExxonMobil says the Legislature's own professional staff made a similar observation in analyzing the bill creating the law in 1992, and that a 2006 Federal Trade Commission study of post-Hurricane Katrina gasoline price spikes said the use of terms such as ``grossly excessive'' requires ``subjective interpretation that increases the difficulty of both compliance and enforcement.''

ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded oil company in the world, questioned whether Florida's price gouging law should be applied to wholesale or ``business to business'' oil transactions.

The company acknowledged the likelihood of post-hurricane price increases.

``Motor fuel prices tend to increase as the available supply of motor fuel decreases relative to real or expected demand or consumption,'' ExxonMobil's petition says. ``Should an event such as a hurricane slow or halt production even for a short time, bidding for available supplies may escalate, possibly resulting in an increase in price.''

Bronson's office has 90 days to answer the petition. The elected agriculture commissioner criticized the company's action on Tuesday.

``If they don't want to be responsible citizens, that's their business,'' Bronson said. ``I don't think the public is going to appreciate that.''

`VERY CLEAR'

Gov. Charlie Crist, who as attorney general enforced the price gouging law, said he didn't think the statute was too vague.

``I think it's very clear. I think you know it when you see it, and I know a jury certainly would,'' Crist said.

After Hurricane Ike swiped the state last year, Crist, Bronson and Attorney General Bill McCollum all urged Floridians to file complaints if they saw evidence of price gouging. Hundreds of people did.

Bill Newton of the Florida Consumer Action Network in Tampa expressed dismay at ExxonMobil's petition.

``The nerve of them! They make the highest profits of any corporation in history and that's not enough?'' Newton said. ``They have to go after hurricane victims?''

Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or 850-224-7263.

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