Biden calls for investigation into fuel price hikes
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday asked the US Competition Authority to "immediately" look into the "potentially illegal" behavior of oil companies that raise fuel prices at stations while "lowering their costs".
The White House called on Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan to "be alert to increasingly clear indications of consumer-harming behavior by oil and gas companies."
"The FMC has the authority to scrutinize illegal behavior that increases costs to families. I think you should act immediately," Joe Biden wrote in the letter.
The Biden administration is facing growing dissatisfaction among Americans about inflation due to the rise in fuel prices.
Biden stressed that "the costs of refineries and oil manufacturers decreased and their profits increased" despite the rise in fuel prices, denouncing an "unjustified gap" between the price of fuel when leaving the refineries and its price at gas stations.
"I do not accept that hard-working Americans are paying more for fuel because of anti-competitive or illegal behavior," he added, asking "the committee to look into what is happening in the oil and gas markets."
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