(Washington) Faced with a sharp rise in inflation, President Joe Biden on Wednesday asked the US competition authority to look into the “possibly illegal” behavior of oil companies whose gasoline prices at the pump soar.
The White House in a letter called on Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Lina Khan to “turn its attention to increasingly obvious signs of harmful consumer behavior by oil companies and gas “.
“The FTC has the authority to investigate whether there is any illegal behavior that is costing families’ budgets at the pump. I think you should get started right away, ”Joe Biden wrote.
His administration is facing growing American dissatisfaction with inflation, particularly driven by rising energy prices.
Joe Biden points out that although gasoline prices at the pump have continued to rise, “the costs of refiners and petroleum manufacturers have fallen and their profits have increased.”
He denounces “an unexplained gap” between the price of unfinished gasoline and its price at the pump.
“I do not accept that hard-working Americans pay more for fuel because of anti-competitive or possibly illegal behavior,” added the president’s letter.
“I therefore ask the Commission to take a closer look at what is happening with the oil and gas markets,” he wrote.
The price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump (3.78 liters) has taken more than a dollar over the past year to average $ 3.41 nationally, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
Records for 20 years were reached this week in California, at 4.69 dollars.
Persistent inflation in the United States is becoming a challenge for the government as prices rose 0.9% in October. It peaked at 6.2% over twelve months, a high since 1990.
When asked, the FTC declined to comment on its investigations, but spokesman Peter Kaplan told AFP: “The FTC is concerned about this issue and we are looking into it.”
” Distraction ”
In response to a previous request from Joe Biden over the summer relating to fuel prices, FTC President Lina Khan pledged to investigate any collusion that could fuel inflation, as well as ‘Take a closer look at mergers in industry that reduce competition.
In June, the regulator ordered 7-Eleven and Marathon Petroleum to sell nearly 300 gas stations, saying their $ 21 billion merger violated antitrust rules by leaving hundreds of communities with no alternatives to buying fuel.
Crude prices fell sharply on Wednesday, with a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark variety in the United States, losing 2.97% to 78.36% dollars.
The market was also weighed down by the strengthening dollar and the fear that the Biden administration would release part of its strategic oil reserves on the market to lower prices.
For Patrick De Haan, head of oil analyzes for the popular GasBuddy site, the volatility of crude prices prevents oil companies from passing on their cost reductions. “I think the president is just trying to introduce a positive angle […] saying he’s going to take control of the situation, ”he said.
The professional organization American Petroleum Institute (API) called Joe Biden’s initiative a “distraction” and blamed “ill-advised government decisions that exacerbate this predicament,” according to its vice president Frank Macchiarola.
Joe Biden called on the FTC to “use all the tools of the commission if wrongdoing (is) discovered.”