10.31.24

Whitehouse, Pallone Join Forces to Press Big Oil for Answers About Suspected Collusion with OPEC

Senate Budget Chairman and House Energy and Commerce Ranking Member announce committees are merging their investigations of fossil fuel companies’ market manipulation to inflate oil and gas prices

Washington, D.C. — Today, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) announced they are joining forces to turn up the heat on fossil fuel companies suspected of illegally conspiring with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the international oil cartel, or representatives of its member countries to artificially raise prices on Americans and increase their own profits.   Chairman Whitehouse and Ranking Member Pallone had previously launched separate inquiries, and today they are jointly sending follow-up letters to the CEOs of companies that have thus far failed to comply: BP America, Chevron, Expand Energy, Devon Energy, ExxonMobil (Exxon), Hess, and Occidental Petroleum. Today’s follow-up letters renew the original requests for documents and information and mark an escalation of the probe.

“Considering the effect that anticompetitive behavior in the oil and gas sector can have on the U.S. economy and on the federal budget, the substantive responses of many of your peer companies, and continued public reporting about the oil and gas industry’s suspected coordination with OPEC and OPEC+, your lack of any substantive responses to our recent letters is very troubling,” Whitehouse and Pallone wrote to the seven Big Oil CEOs.

The probe follows revelations from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that multiple fossil fuel executives allegedly engaged in illegal, anticompetitive behavior.  In May, the FTC revealed that former Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield attempted to collude with OPEC to manipulate global oil and gas production, increase oil and gas prices, and boost his company’s profits.  Then, last month, the FTC revealed that Hess CEO John B. Hess engaged in inappropriate communications and interactions with multiple OPEC Secretaries General, as well as an official who held senior posts in the Saudi Arabian government and its state-owned oil company.

A recent report found that illegal crude oil price-gouging schemes may have caused over 25 percent of the increase in inflation that hurt many American families in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. What’s more, the FTC’s findings suggest that these CEOs may not have been the only ones engaging in collusive activities.  Private class action lawsuits filed against oil producers operating in the Permian Basin region also accuse multiple producers of illegally working together to depress oil production and price-gouge Americans.

“Given that multiple American oil and gas executives have been implicated by the FTC’s discoveries, it is more important than ever that Congress and the American people learn if additional U.S. oil companies are colluding with each other and foreign cartels to manipulate global oil markets and harm American consumers who then pay more at the pump,” the two Committee leaders wrote.

The obstruction and non-responsiveness from Hess and Chevron are particularly egregious in light of the FTC’s complaint against Mr. Hess, which cited evidence that he frequently interacted with OPEC’s Secretaries General and provided support for the cartel, whose membership includes adversaries that actively seek to undermine U.S. interests and national security.  As a result of its investigation, the FTC barred Mr. Hess from serving on Chevron’s board after the two companies merge.

“Your responses to our questions so far have been entirely insufficient to address our concerns and, given the revelations in the FTC’s complaint last month, it is clear that Hess has been acting in bad faith in its responses to our inquiries,” wrote the Members to Mr. Hess, the CEO of Hess.

In their letter to Michael K. Wirth, CEO of Chevron, Whitehouse and Pallone wrote, “Even more concerning is your statement in response to the FTC’s complaint, which indicates that you have no reservations about continuing a relationship with John Hess even after the FTC’s serious allegations … It is difficult to reconcile this praise for Mr. Hess with Chevron’s assertion that it ‘firmly opposes’ attempts to collude or coordinate with regards to crude oil or gas production levels.”

This Congress, the Senate Budget Committee partnered with the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Democrats to expose Big Oil’s decades-long campaign to avoid accountability for damages from climate change while continuing to obstruct climate action and rake in record profits. Chairman Whitehouse and House Oversight Ranking Member Raskin recently called on the Department of Justice to investigate.  Chairman Whitehouse, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, and House Oversight and Accountability Ranking Member Jamie Raskin are leading a bicameral investigation into eight oil and gas companies and a major trade association following reports that former President Donald Trump solicited a quid pro quo from Big Oil executives, promising to roll back climate regulations in exchange for campaign cash.   Senator Whitehouse also joined Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and 21 other Senators to urge the Department of Justice to use every tool at its disposal to prevent and prosecute collusion and price fixing in the oil industry.

In May, shortly after launching his investigation into Big Oil collusion, Pallone wrote to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) asking that the Committee hold a hearing on the FTC’s allegations.  After receiving no response, Pallone followed up last month urging  Rodgers to request a bipartisan briefing with the FTC where non-public information could be disclosed — an action that the FTC could only grant upon request from the Republican Majority.  To date, House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans have not responded to either request, raising questions about Republicans’ complicity in Big Oil’s price-gouging of the American people.

The Committees have requested substantive responses and relevant information and documents by November 13, 2024.

Click here to read the letter to BP.

Click here to read the letter to Chevron.

Click here to read the letter to Devon Energy.

Click here to read the letter to Expand Energy Corporation.

Click here to read the letter to ExxonMobil.

Click here to read the letter to Hess.

Click here to read the letter to Occidental.