The Associated Press

@body:FRANKFORT -- Marathon Petroleum Co. has filed a countersuit against Kentucky in response to being sued by the state for alleged price gouging.

Kentucky officials sued Marathon in state court on Thursday accusing the fuel supplier of violating state price gouging laws in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Marathon responded by filing suit in federal court asking that Kentucky's price-gouging law be declared unconstitutional.

Attorney General Greg Stumbo claimed in the state suit that Marathon overcharged Kentucky residents $86 million and that Speedway and SuperAmerica stores overcharged an additional $3 million.

Angelia Graves, a spokeswoman for Marathon, said Thursday the company did nothing wrong.

Stumbo's office cracked down on fuel suppliers when gasoline prices in some parts of the state increased to more than $3 a gallon in the wake of the devastating hurricanes, which damaged oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Last August, the attorney general levied fines totaling $52,500 against 11 other Kentucky gasoline retailers to settle price-gouging allegations.

In Kentucky, retail prices jumped by as much as 70 cents a gallon in the days following Hurricane Katrina.