Ranking Member Markey Calls for Immediate Investigation into Big Oil and Gas Companies for Price Gouging

RM Markey demands FTC investigation as gas prices surge more than 50% since Trump launched his war in Iran

Letter (PDF)

(Washington, May 13) - Ranking Member Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson demanding that the FTC investigate big oil and gas companies for driving up costs at the pump for American families and small businesses. Ranking Member Markey urged the FTC to investigate oil and gas companies that may be engaged in price gouging, market manipulation, or anti-competitive pricing practices as Trump's war in Iran continues to strain American small businesses and families.

Ranking Member Markey's letter comes as the average price of a gallon of regular gas surges past $4.50 per gallon-more than 50% higher than before Trump launched his illegal war in Iran-putting further pain on American small businesses and families already burdened by Trump's tariff taxes, surging electricity prices, and skyrocketing healthcare costs.

In the letter, Ranking Member Markey wrote, "The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline now stands at $4.52-up from $2.98 per gallon before President Trump began the war. At these rates, American drivers will pay more than $740 in additional gasoline costs per vehicle annually. This is a burden American families cannot sustain. These price increases have not occurred in a vacuum-they have coincided with extraordinary profit-taking by the oil and gas industry."

Ranking Member Markey continued, "If supply chain disruptions driven by the United States' war with Iran were the only cause of the rising prices at the pump, it would stand to reason that oil companies would be seeing expenditures and losses rise at the same time as gasoline costs. We are not seeing a neutral effect on profits, however-we are seeing oil companies secure surging excess windfall profits that are directly tied to their establishment of higher gasoline costs. This pattern is not sustainable and not acceptable for American households. The FTC has the tools to determine whether it is also illegal. I urge you to use them."

Ranking Member Markey urged the FTC to investigate the following:

• Whether major oil and gas companies are coordinating, explicitly or tacitly, to fix or maintain elevated retail gasoline prices-including through pricing signals transmitted via the franchisor-franchisee supply chain;
• Whether oil and gas companies are deliberately adjusting domestic supply or prioritizing record export volumes in order to sustain elevated domestic prices and maximize profits during a period of international supply disruption;
• Whether the asymmetric "rockets and feathers" pricing pattern constitutes an unfair method of competition or an unfair practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act in the current market environment; and
• Whether the contractual relationships between major oil companies and their branded franchise networks give those companies sufficient de facto pricing power to constitute unlawful price maintenance or anti-competitive coordination.

Ranking Member Markey is fighting to deliver real relief for small businesses, workers, and families who are suffering the consequences of Trump's reckless and illegal war in Iran.

• Last week, Ranking Member Markey released new data highlighting the cost of Trump's war in Iran. American families will be forced to pay $1,753 more at the pump this year because of Trump's illegal war.
• In April, Ranking Member Markey renewed his call for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to provide transparency on the economic impact of Trump's illegal war on Iran.
• Earlier in April, Ranking Member Markey released data on how Trump's illegal war in Iran is hurting American small businesses, families, and workers at the pump.
• In March, Ranking Member Markey sent letters to CEOs at five of the largest oil and gas companies demanding that big oil and gas companies do not award executives profits generated from rising oil prices during Trump's illegal war in Iran.
• Also in March, Ranking Member Markey joined Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), to sound the alarm about big corporations possibly taking advantage of the escalating pricing environment to price gouge American consumers, pressing FTC Chair Ferguson to investigate any Iran war-related price gouging.
• Earlier in March, Ranking Member Markey sent a letter to BLS demanding full transparency about the economic costs of Trump's illegal war with Iran and how the war will harm American consumers. He urged BLS to provide non-partisan and accurate evidence of the economic consequences of Trump's illegal war in Iran, regardless of political pressure from the Administration.