Average in California over $4 50 a gallon….
Nationally average almost $3.50 a gallon…
President Joe Biden asked the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday to “immediately” investigate whether illegal activity by oil and gas companies is pushing up gas prices as he searches for a way to reduce pain at the pump.
The move isn’t likely to have an immediate effect on the price consumers are paying for gas, which has recently soared as post-pandemic demand outpaces supply.
But Biden is seeking ways to show he is working to bring prices down, and the FTC’s findings could help in the long run if they find wrongdoing.
In a letter to the FTC commissioner Lina Khan, Biden cited “mounting evidence of anti-consumer behavior by oil and gas companies” and said the agency must probe whether anything illegal is occurring to drive up prices.
“The bottom line is this: gasoline prices at the pump remain high, even though oil and gas companies’ costs are declining,” he wrote.
He cited an “unexplained large gap” between the price of unfinished gasoline and average prices at the pump as evidence of potential wrongdoing. And he noted industry profits have increased massively, while companies like ExxonMobil make plans for stock buybacks and dividends for stockholders….