Senate Democrats call for DOJ to probe Big Oil over price-fixing allegations

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) led 23 Democratic senators Thursday in a call for the Justice Department to investigate allegations of price-fixing by major oil companies.

In their letter, the senators called for a full probe into possible industry violations of the Sherman Act, the 1890 law barring monopolies and anticompetitive agreements. They specifically cite recent allegations by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that ex-Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield colluded with the OPEC oil group on price-fixing activity.

The FTC recently approved ExxonMobil’s $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources on the condition that Sheffield, who retired as CEO in 2023 but retained a seat on its board of directors, not be part of the new entity’s board. Lawyers for Sheffield have called the agency’s allegations “a false narrative … and a farfetched interpretation of the applicable statutes.”

“From pre-pandemic times to current day, industry collusion may have contributed to the 49% decrease in the U.S. oil production growth rate,” the Democrats wrote in their letter. “Pioneer’s and its co-conspirators’ collusion may have cost the average American household up to $500 per car in increased annual fuel costs — an unwelcome tax that is particularly burdensome for lower-income families. Meanwhile, Western oil majors collectively earned more than $300 billion in profits over the last two years, a surge that many market experts believe cannot be explained away by increased production costs from the pandemic or inflation.”

The letter was signed by Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Bob Casey (Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), John Fetterman (Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Chris Murphy (Conn.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Tina Smith (Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), as well as Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.).

Whitehouse, one of the Senate’s most vocal critics of the oil industry, also recently asked the Justice Department to take up the findings of a recent Senate Budget Committee report alleging a campaign by the industry to spread misinformation about climate change. The companies named have denied any wrongdoing.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jeane-Pierre said in a statement Thursday that the White House does not comment on specific cases but “the President has made clear that any illegal collusion between big corporations is unacceptable and rips off hardworking families, including if it raises prices at the pump.”

The administration has frequently accused the oil industry of price-gouging during periods of increased gas prices, pointing to record industry profits.

The Hill has reached out to Pioneer for comment. An ExxonMobil spokesperson declined comment to The Hill.

Updated 3:48 p.m. ET.