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(Adds information on other oil investigations in Congress, details on what Whitehouse is asking energy companies in paragraphs 11-14) by Timothy Gardner
The U.S. Senate Budget Committee on Thursday launched an investigation of domestic oil producers into possible efforts to illegally coordinate oil prices with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, in the latest effort by Democratic lawmakers to put pressure on energy companies.
The producers targeted by this investigation are Exxon Mobil
XOM.N, Chevron CVX.N, ConocoPhillips COP.N and 14 others. The three major energy companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Two other large companies in the group, BP BP.L and Shell SHEL.L, declined to comment.
Interest among many Democratic lawmakers in possible collusion between oil companies and production groups intensified last month after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) barred Pioneer’s former chief executive Natural Resources, Scott Sheffield, from Exxon’s board of directors over allegations he tried to collude with OPEC to drive up oil prices. The FTC made this decision as it approved Exxon’s $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer.
Sheffield has denied the FTC’s allegations.
Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, chairman of the Budget Committee, has called for an investigation into the companies.
“Given recent events involving Pioneer Natural Resources …, I am concerned about the potential for oil and oil products to be sold to third parties. I am concerned that oil and gas companies may engage in collusive and anti-competitive activities with OPEC+ that would drive up crude oil prices, resulting in higher costs not only for American families, but also for the U.S. government when it acquires crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” Whitehouse said in a statement.
OPEC+ is a production group that includes OPEC and Russia that has agreed to cut output. President Joe Biden’s administration is slowly rebuilding the SPR after selling 180 million barrels of the reserve in 2022 to try to tame fuel prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) called Mr Whitehouse’s investigation an ‘election year maneuver’
Bethany Williams, an API spokeswoman, said: “This is yet another election maneuver to distract from misguided policies as the administration continues to look to foreign producers to respond to the growing demand for reliable and affordable energy
Mr. Biden, a Democrat, hopes to be re-elected in November. Mr. Whitehouse, a Rhode Island native and strong advocate for strong climate change policy, is seeking a fourth term in the United States Senate.
Earlier this month, a group of nine Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives asked the Department of Justice ( ) to investigate allegations of competitive behavior by U.S. oil producers and OPEC.
In May, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and 22 of his Democratic colleagues sent a similar letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Mr. Whitehouse asked companies to provide, by July 12, all communications between them and members of the OPEC and OPEC+ secretariat regarding oil production, crude oil prices and the relationship between production and pricing of petroleum products from January 2020 to today.
OPEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
