[WASHINGTON, DC] – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) during a confirmation hearing for Alvaro Bedoya to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, urged the FTC to conduct a vigorous and prompt investigation into skyrocketing gas prices, as requested earlier today by President Joe Biden.  Senator Blumenthal is chair of the Consumer Protection Subcommittee with oversight of the FTC.

“This investigation is overdue, absolutely necessary, should be pursued vigorously and promptly. The present monopolistic practices of these companies need to be exposed for what they are so consumers understand why prices are rising. And we need to call attention as well to the monopolistic prices of OPEC and the producers of gasoline,” said Blumenthal. “There’s no reason that consumers should be left in the dark about why gasoline prices at the pump are rising so astronomically. And I will just cite, if the gap between refined fuel costs and gasoline prices at the pump were to return to normal, pre-pandemic levels, drivers would be paying as much as 25 cents less per gallon.”

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