Joe Biden Cracks Down On Big Oil's Potentially Illegal Gas Price Gouging

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Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:36 pm

President Biden announced that his administration would be looking into potentially illegal activity keeping gas prices high.

Biden Takes Aim At High Gas Prices

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Biden announces crackdown on Big Oil for potential illegal activity keeping gas prices high. The FTC will investigate and "address any illegal conduct that might be contributing to price increases at the pump." pic.twitter.com/olXXpweN8K

— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) August 11, 2021

Recently, we have seen the price all companies pay for a barrel of oil began to fall. The price of gasoline at the pump for more American people hasn’t. That is not what you would expect in a competitive market. I want to make sure nothing stands in the way of all price decline leading to lower prices for consumers.

Today my director of the National Economic Council has asked the chair of the Federal Trade Commission to use every available tool to monitor the US gasoline market to address any illegal conduct that might be contributing to price increases at the pump while the cost of barrel oil is going down. It was also made clear to OPEC that the production cuts should be reversed as a global or as the global economy recovers to lower prices for consumers.

Big Oil Tried This Same Stunt Under Obama

Biden was right to question the potential for illegal activity in the oil market. In 2011, when gas prices were out of sync with market behavior, Obama announced an investigation, and like magic, gas prices fell.

Big Oil will try to price gouge where and when they can, and unless there is a president in office, like Biden currently, who isn’t willing to look the other way, they will often get away with it.

President Biden is working for the American people, not the corporations, so Big Oil just got put on notice, and we’ll see if recent history repeats itself and gas prices fall.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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