The New Jersey attorney general has filed a civil suit against three oil companies and several gas stations charging them with price gouging in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The Associated Press reported that the lawsuit, filed by State Attorney General Peter Harvey, accuses Hess, Shell Oil Co. and Sunoco of artificially inflating gas prices and of increasing those prices more than the once-a-day limit allowed by law.

The complaint also charges that customers were charged for more gas than they were given, and that they were charged for premium but given regular.

New Jersey gas prices spiked to a high of $3.16 per gallon on Labor Day.