Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) led 23 Democratic senators Thursday in calling on the Justice Department to investigate allegations of price fixing by major oil companies.
In their letter, the senators called for a full investigation into possible violations of the Sherman Act, the 1890 law that prohibits monopolies and anticompetitive agreements. They specifically cite recent allegations by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that former Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield conspired with the OPEC oil group in price-fixing activity.
The FTC recently approved ExxonMobil’s $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources on the condition that Sheffield, who retired as CEO in 2023 but retained a seat on its board of directors, would not serve on the new board. entity. Sheffield’s lawyers called the agency’s claims “a false narrative… and an absurd interpretation of applicable statutes.”
“From pre-pandemic times to the present day, industry collusion may have contributed to the 49% decline in the growth rate of U.S. oil production,” the Democrats wrote in their letter. “The collusion of Pioneer and its co-conspirators may have cost the average American household up to $500 per car in increased annual fuel costs – an undesirable tax that is particularly burdensome for low-income families. Meanwhile, major Western oil companies have collectively made more than $300 billion in profits over the past two years, an increase that many market experts believe cannot be explained by rising production costs due to the pandemic or inflation.”
The letter was signed by Democratic Senators Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Cory Booker (NJ), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Bob Casey (Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), John Fetterman (Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Ed Markey (Mass. .), Chris Murphy (Conn.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Tina Smith (Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), as well like independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.).
Whitehouse, one of the oil industry’s most vocal critics in the Senate, also recently called on the Justice Department to accept the findings of a recent Senate Budget Committee report, which alleged an industry campaign to spread disinformation about climate change. The companies mentioned denied any irregularity.
The Hill has reached out to Pioneer and ExxonMobil for comment.
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