Connecticut Delegation Requests Investigation into Rising Gas Prices

Press Release

CONNECTICUT DELEGATION REQUESTS INVESTIGATION INTO RISING GAS PRICES

Today the Connecticut delegation sent a letter to the Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), David M. Walker, requesting information about the recent spike in gasoline prices. Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT), along with Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Joe Courtney (D-CT), John Larson (D-CT), and Chris Shays (R-CT), requested that the GAO investigate the effect of the under-utilization of oil refineries on gas prices. By operating well below the refining capacity, the oil industry could create an artificial shortage, thereby driving gas prices higher. The delegates' letter aims to ensure that any manipulation of the market price of gasoline, as prices have increased by nearly a dollar a gallon since the beginning of the year, is brought to light.

"Consumers should not have to face a predatory market for the gas they need to drive to work, bring their children to school, and carry out day to day activities," Dodd said. "I hope that the GAO finds no evidence that calculated action by refining companies is the main cause of these price increases, but as summertime nears, we need a clear understanding of skyrocketing gas prices that burden consumers and slow our economic growth."

"We know already that US antitrust enforcers have allowed merger after merger to squeeze competition out of the domestic refining industry," said Lieberman. "Now we see separate refineries planning their maintenance shutdowns to overlap, and to coincide with the start of the US driving season. It's suspicious."

"Rising gas prices are increasing the strain on the pocketbooks of America 's working families. With oil refiners reporting an increase in first quarter profits of 50% from a year earlier, Americans are rightly skeptical about whether the oil companies are artificially creating a shortage to boost prices. By investigating questions about refining capacity we can determine whether theses skyrocketing gas prices are the result of market manipulation," said DeLauro.

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