Hill Heat

The Bush Administration has allowed an increase in oil refinery mergers to go unchecked, even as reduced refining supply seems to be pushing up gas prices. The rise in gasoline prices is helping refiners generate the highest margins from refining since at least 1990, allowing them to report record profits. Meanwhile, consumers are facing harmful price spikes and lack of cheaper alternatives, such as E85, at the pumps.

The JEC will examine the impacts of consolidation in the oil and gas industry on competition, gasoline prices, and consumers’ energy choices. Specifically, the Committee will investigate whether oil industry mergers and increased market concentration have enabled firms to raise their prices above competitive levels and strategically withhold capacity to keep prices high; and investigate whether firms are preventing the entry of cheaper fuel alternatives for consumers at the pump.

Witnesses:

• Dr. Thomas McCool, Director, Center for Economics, Government Accountability Office
• Dr. Michael Salinger, Director of the Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission

• Dr. Diana Moss, American Antitrust Institute, Vice President and Senior Research Fellow
• Dennis DeCota, Calif. Service Station and Automotive Repair Assn., Executive Director
• Samantha Slater, Director, Congressional and Regulatory Affairs, Renewable Fuels Association, Washington, DC
• Red Cavaney, President and CEO, American Petroleum Institute
• Dr. James Smith, Southern Methodist University, Chair of Oil and Gas Management