Hill Democrats ask Justice Department to probe oil industry for alleged price fixing

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was joined by 22 other Democratic senators in a campaign to get the Justice Department to investigate whether oil companies are colluding to inflate prices. 

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Democrats ask the agency to “use every tool at its disposal to prevent and prosecute collusion and price fixing in the oil industry.” 

A recent Federal Trade Commission investigation into a proposed $60 billion ExxonMobil merger with Pioneer Natural Resources uncovered evidence that Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield colluded with OPEC to “reduce output of oil and gas, which would result in Americans paying higher prices at the pump, to inflate profits for his company.” 

The Democrats then asked the Justice Department to initiate a broader investigation into the industry for collusion and price fixing. 

Andrea Woods, spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute, a trade association, fired back at the Democrats calls for a wider investigation, Fox News reports. Woods said that the record-high production the industry achieved last year stabilized prices worldwide, despite production cuts from OPEC. 

"While we don't know the details of the FTC's allegations against one individual, the reality is that U.S. producers answered the call to meet growing energy demand, despite a spate of inflationary policies from this administration that threaten our long-term energy security," Woods said.