Gas-price conspiracy charges thrown out

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Some energy producers withheld supplies of gasoline to maximize profits, but there is no evidence that companies conspired to raise gas prices last summer, the Federal Trade Commission has concluded.

In a final report being released today, the FTC said that a variety of factors, including many beyond the control of producers and marketers, were partly responsible for gasoline prices soaring beyond $2 a gallon in parts of the Midwest last summer.

Still, the FTC report said that "conscious, but independent choices" by market participants, often to maximize profits, also played a significant role in the Midwest price spikes.

"Although the principal causes of the price spike were largely beyond the immediate control of industry participants, the industry as a whole made errors in supply forecasts and underestimated the potential for supply shortages," the FTC report concluded.

The agency was asked last year to investigate whether producers and marketers had violated antitrust laws to manipulate the summer gasoline markets in the Midwest.

"The investigation uncovered no evidence of collusion or any other antitrust violation," concluded the report summary, the Associated Press learned.

"Some firms did take advantage of the situation by withholding gas to keep prices and their profits high," said Sen. Herbert Kohl, D-Wis., who was briefed yesterday on the FTC findings.

The FTC investigation found that decisions by some refiners added to shortages and price increases.

Hawai'i has filed a $2 billion antitrust lawsuit accusing Chevron and other oil companies of conspiring to artificially inflate Hawaii gasoline prices and then conceal the conspiracy from investigators. All of the companies have denied the allegations. The case is set to go to trial later this year.