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Old 04-21-2008, 05:19 PM   #24
Adder
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More on oil

Sort of apropos of the conversation, I wonder if Cantwell and Insleee want investigations into steel and other commodity prices too:

  • April 21, 2008

    President George W. Bush
    1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
    Washington, DC 20500

    Dear President Bush:

    With Americans questioning the fairness of record high gas prices, we urge you to
    establish a new interagency Oil and Gas Market Fraud Task Force under the leadership of
    the Department of Justice to ensure that energy markets are free from illegal market
    manipulation and corporate corruption.

    Oil and gas are irreplaceable commodities central to our economic prosperity, national
    security, and the health and well being of our citizens. However, with prices for these
    necessities more than tripling since 2002, families, businesses, and hard working
    Americans are struggling to make ends meet with ever shrinking disposable incomes.
    Airlines are going bankrupt and truckers aren’t even getting paid enough to cover diesel
    prices that exceed $4 dollar per gallon. Families have cut back on going out to dinner or
    the mall, further exacerbating our economic downturn.

    Congress has received testimony from our nation’s Attorneys General, energy market
    experts, and major oil company executives that the price of oil and gas can no longer be
    explained or predicted by normal market dynamics or their historic understanding of
    supply and demand fundamentals. Earlier this month, an executive from Exxon Mobil
    testified under oath that the price of crude oil should be about $50 to $55 per barrel based
    on the supply and demand fundamentals he had observed. Yet current crude oil prices,
    and crude oil futures, are expected to remain above $100 for the next several years.

    In the wake of the Enron and other corporate scandals, you initiated the Corporate Fraud
    Task Force at the Department of Justice as part of your Corporate Responsibility
    Initiative. By aggressively enforcing existing laws and regulations, the Task Force’s
    actions have yielded over 1,200 corporate fraud convictions to date. In addition, the
    Justice Department has obtained more than one billion dollars in fraud-related forfeitures
    and has distributed that money to the victims of corporate fraud. We believe the
    Corporate Fraud Task Force should establish a new Oil and Gas Market Fraud Task
    Force and apply its considerable resources, initiative, and ability to coordinate federal
    agency efforts to help restore consumer confidence that energy prices are fair. We urge
    you to also add the Federal Trade Commission to the interagency Task Force.

    The threat of oil and gas market manipulation remains real. For example, in its
    Congressionally directed investigation into gas price increases following Hurricanes
    Katrina and Rita, the Federal Trade Commission found 15 examples of pricing at the
    refining, wholesale, or retail level that fit the relevant legislation’s definition of evidence
    of “price gouging.” In addition, last July, Marathon Oil Corp. agreed to pay a $1 million
    fine to the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to settle charges that its Marathon
    Petroleum Company subsidiary attempted to manipulate crude oil prices in 2003.

    As we learned from the 2000-2001 Western energy crisis, energy costs affect all sectors
    of our economy from transportation, to industry and business, to food prices and beyond.
    That electricity crisis took a serious toll on American consumers and businesses, causing
    a 1.5 percent decline in productivity that cost the West 589,000 jobs and a $35 billion
    drop in domestic economic product.

    How the federal government responds to the changing dynamics of energy markets is
    vital to our continued national and economic security. As members of Congress that
    aggressively sought consumer relief and accountability following the Western energy
    crisis, we learned that consumers are best protected when energy markets are subject to
    aggressive regulation and enforcement. And unless there is a cop on the beat vigilantly
    policing energy markets, sophisticated companies can fleece consumer pocketbooks
    without fear of penalty. We look forward to working with you to establish an Oil and Gas
    Market Task Force to root out fraud and manipulation in all corners of the oil and gas
    marketplace.

    Sincerely,

    Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Congressman Jay Inslee (D-WA-01)
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