Letter Follows FTC Investigation Showing American Oil Executives and OPEC Officials Colluded To Reduce Oil And Gas Output While Inflating Company Profits And Forcing American Families And Businesses To Pay Higher Prices At The Pump
Washington, D.C. –Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined 23 Senate colleagues and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to hold Big Oil accountable and to protect consumers. This letter follows a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation into the Exxon-Pioneer merger that found evidence of collusion and price fixing between American oil executives and OPEC officials resulting in higher energy costs for American families and businesses. Specifically, the lawmakers call for an industry-wide investigation into possible violations of the Sherman Act to prosecute any bad actors, and they outline how Big Oil’s alleged collusion with OPEC is a national security concern that aids countries looking to undermine the U.S. like Iran and Russia.
“From pre-pandemic times to current day, industry collusion may have contributed to the 49% decrease in the U.S. oil production growth rate,” wrote the senators. “Pioneer’s and its co-conspirators’ collusion may have cost the average American household up to $500 per car in increased annual fuel costs – an unwelcome tax that is particularly burdensome for lower-income families. Meanwhile, Western oil majors collectively earned more than $300 billion in profits over the last two years, a surge that many market experts believe cannot be explained away by increased production costs from the pandemic or inflation.”
“Corporate malfeasance must be confronted, or it will proliferate. These alleged offenses do not simply enrich corporations; hardworking Americans end up paying the price through higher costs for gas, fuel, and related consumer products,” continued the senators. “The DOJ must protect consumers, small businesses, and the public from petroleum-market collusion, and an important part of that mission means seeking full restitution and imposing all penalties supported by the facts and the law.”
Read the full letter text HERE.
Senator Cortez Masto has led efforts in the Senate to lower costs for Nevadans and protect consumers. She has called out Big Oil and gas companies for price gouging and using their record profits to reward shareholders, and she passed landmark legislation to lower prescription drug costs for seniors. She’s pushed critical legislation to alleviate supply chain bottlenecks and has urged the Biden Administration to develop a long-term, government-wide strategy to lower gas prices and help Americans reduce their energy costs. In addition, she has been a champion for renewable energy and clean transportation development that will help lower energy prices for Nevadans.
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