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Joe Biden wants to investigate “flaws” in oil

U.S. President Joe Biden has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether the country’s largest oil companies are engaging in “illegal practices” that are causing Americans to rise in price.

In a letter to FTC chairwoman Lina Khan, Biden said there was “more and more anti-consumer evidence” on the market, noting that “big oil and gas companies… purchasing costs and benefits “even as prices at the pump continue to rise.

The two top US oil and gas companies based on the market are ExxonMobil and Chevron. Biden said the companies were “making huge profits”, adding: “The bottom line is: oil prices at the pump remain high, even though oil and gas prices are falling.”

The president’s intervention comes amid political turmoil over rising oil prices and rising commodity prices. His popularity has plummeted in recent weeks, as more and more Americans are seeing how they operate economically.

The Obama administration has also registered with the FTC to investigate rising oil prices as part of the “Oil and Gas Fraudulent Working Group” announced in 2011. sure that the main driver of fuel prices was the price of crude oil. In 2006, President George W Bush too called to find out if oil companies are improving prices.

The Biden government is considering removing oil from a federal group that seeks to lower oil prices and has repeatedly asked Saudi Arabia, Russia and other oil companies Opec + to increase oil prices.

“The FTC is concerned about this issue, and we are looking into it,” the official said.

Exxon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chevron sent a report to the Financial Times at the American Petroleum Institute, which called Biden’s letter “a hindrance to the ongoing market change” and criticized government officials for blocking US oil.

Prices for crude oil prices fell sharply last year when the epidemic was halted, but the rate has doubled since the vaccine was announced last November and bans have dropped.

Rising oil prices have also boosted U.S. oil prices, with a gallon of oil now selling at around $ 3.41 – up 60 percent in the last 12 months – according to the AAA car group.

Biden’s letter to Khan highlights the rise of White House voices in competition at the oil and gas industry. Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, sent another letter to Khan August call on the FTC to address any concerns in the US oil market.

Biden’s opponents at the oil industry are criticizing government regulations and blocking new drills to raise prices, but experts say Wall Street pressure on workers to repay loans is money that has hampered recovery after last year’s price crash.

Oil production in the US is about 11.5m barrels per day, according to the Energy Information Administration, about 12 percent below its pre-epidemic rise. Petroleum consumption in the US dropped to about 5m barrels per day during the closure last year but has doubled since then.

Investigators say Biden’s letter to the FTC followed a well-known political document of presidents who are to blame for rising oil prices and will not affect prices.

“How many times has the FTC surveyed oil prices without finding anything? It’s a political crisis,” said Robert Campbell, chief of oil sales at consultant Energy Aspects.

“The biggest influence on petrol prices is oil prices. The global market is tight. There is not much the US can do right now,” Campbell said.

Additional reports of Kiran Stacey in Washington and Myles McCormick in New York


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