International Finance: Biden Urges FTC to Probe Gasoline Market With Prices Up 50%

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President Joe Biden urged the Federal Trade Commission to probe possible illegal conduct in U.S. gasoline markets, though any inquiry by the agency is unlikely to have an immediate impact on pump prices paid by consumers.

In a letter to Wednesday to FTC Chair Lina Khan, the president expressed concern about the difference between pump prices and the cost of wholesale fuel, while citing what he said was “mounting evidence of anti-consumer behavior by oil and gas companies.”

The FTC is an independent agency that is not directed by the White House, though Biden selected Khan as its chair and the agency can choose to follow the president’s suggestions. But his letter is mostly symbolic. It’s not uncommon for state and federal regulators to open investigations of gasoline prices when they soar. Few of those probes translate into real action.

The president said in his letter that “prices at the pump have continued to rise, even as refined fuel costs go down and industry profits go up.” He alleged an “unexplained large gap between the price of unfinished gasoline and the average price at the pump” relative to pre-pandemic differences.

 

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