Clinton Calls for Senate Investigation on Gas Prices

Asked Senate Committee to Investigate Oil Refinery Shutdowns and Possible Price Gouging; Highlighted Oil Company's Record-Breaking Earnings During First Quarter

....After reports of limited gasoline supply, news of refinery shutdowns and Exxon Mobil, the world's biggest oil company, reporting a record first-quarter profit of 10 percent two weeks ago, Senator Clinton, yesterday, sent a letter to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee stating that oil companies should use some of their record-breaking profits to keep their refineries open without passing on repair and maintenance costs to their customers.

"We need to investigate whether we need stronger inspections or other processes in place to ensure that refiners, number one, are leveling with us when they talk about refineries being down, and number two, that they invest adequately in maintaining and improving their facilities to avoid this in the first place," Senator Clinton said. "I think that the series of factors that go into this problem really deserve attention because ultimately the oil companies are making more money than they have ever made before. They are not reinvesting it the way they need to in refinery capacity, modernizing refineries and improving their processes. That means that they don't use those profits to keep our gas supply as affordable and regulated as possible and I'd like to know why."

Senator Clinton said, "We can also use the tools of the federal government, like the Federal Trade Commission to launch on-going investigations to look at both this refinery issue and the price gouging issue, and if we need new authorities to enable the government to hold these companies and their refineries responsible. I think that we should attempt to get that legislative authority."

Read More

Subscribe to Hillary News Updates by Email