DeWine Sponsored Bill Would Help Limit Oil Company Mergers

DEWINE SPONSORED BILL WOULD HELP LIMIT OIL COMPANY MERGERS

Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust and Consumer Rights, yesterday joined Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) as the lead Republican sponsor of Senator Kohl's Oil Industry Merger Antitrust Enforcement Act. The bill would make it more difficult for oil companies to merge and should help put an end to record energy prices that continue to burden American consumers.

"Record-setting energy prices are affecting everyone not just at the gas pump, but in cooling their homes as well. The measures included in this bill would help make sure that only oil company mergers that promote competition and competitive pricing are allowed," said Senator DeWine. "I've been working for years to fight increasing energy prices, and while we must focus on developing new energy sources, this bill would help combat rising prices by forcing oil companies to show their proposed mergers would not harm consumers."

In addition this bill would require antitrust agencies to specifically consider the unique conditions of the petroleum market when evaluating these mergers, in order to assure that when reviewing proposed mergers the agencies are focusing on the potential dangers of oil industry mergers.

As Chairman of the Antitrust and Consumer Rights Subcommittee, Senator DeWine has been fighting rising fuel prices for years. He recently cosponsored Senator Arlen Specter's (R-PA) legislation that would prevent oil companies from unfairly manipulating the supply of oil in order to artificially raise prices. The bill also calls for investigations into how effective oversight of oil mergers has been, whether past mergers need to be revisited, and whether the enforcement agencies need new standards for reviewing oil industry mergers. It would create a Joint Federal and State Task Force to investigate information sharing in the oil industry that may lead to artificially high prices for gas, electricity, and heating oil. Finally, and perhaps must important, the bill also provides a provision, similar to one Senators DeWine and Kohl have sponsored in the past that would make it clear that the Department of Justice has the legal authority to prosecute OPEC nations for their price fixing of crude oil prices.

"The price of gas is driven by the price of crude oil, and the only way we can restore competition in the crude oil market is to fight against OPEC's blatantly illegal and anticompetitive conspiracy to fix prices of this crucial commodity," added Senator DeWine. "By passing both Senator Specter's bill and Senator Kohl's bill, we can help to ensure true competition and, in turn, competitive pricing of oil and gas that could help bring down the cost of fuel."

In addition, Senator DeWine has asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to monitor gasoline prices to make sure that consumers are not subject to price gouging or illegal price manipulation. In response, the FTC has instituted an ongoing project to monitor gasoline prices in 360 markets nationwide, including 12 in Ohio.

http://dewine.senate.gov/