Pumping Up Part Five: Defending Oil Profits

Pumping Up Part Five

UPDATED
FTC subpoenas Big Oil firms in U.S. gasoline probe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Trade Commission has sent subpoenas to Big Oil companies in its investigation of gasoline price manipulation and oil refining capacity constraints, and hopes to complete the probe next spring, the agency's head told a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday.

The agency sent out "dozens of subpoenas" to companies, including oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. , ConocoPhillips, and the U.S. units of BP Plc. (BP.L) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc., FTC Chairwoman Deborah Majoras said. Read full story.

COMMENTARY
Party politics ahead of an election year or the economics of free market pressure bought to bear? Who knows? All I know is the price is high at the pump. Period.

NEWSBYTES
Oil Company Executives Defend Profits
WASHINGTON (AP) - The chiefs of five major oil companies defended the industry's huge profits Wednesday at a Senate hearing where lawmakers said they should explain prices and assure people they're not being gouged. There is a "growing suspicion that oil companies are taking unfair advantage,"

Oil execs defend profits at hearing
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Big oil companies defended their combined quarterly profits of more than $30 billion at a Senate hearing on Wednesday, warning lawmakers that proposals for a windfall profit tax could discourage investments and lead to higher prices.

Senators Grill Oil Executives
(NYT) The chiefs of five major oil companies defended the industry's huge profits at a Senate hearing.

Worried Congress Grills Oil Execs
(CBS News) Top executives of five of the largest oil companies are being asked about their industry's huge profits, coming on the heels of record-high gasoline and home heating oil prices. Criticism of the industry is coming from both Republicans and Democrats.

RELATED STORY
Oil prices keep falling as inventories grow
(AP) Oil prices dropped Wednesday after the U.S. government reported that inventories of crude and gasoline grew in the last week. Inventories of distillate fuel, which includes diesel and heating oil, posted a drop for the seventh-straight week, keeping alive fears that heating oil may be in short...

Tension: Gas Pains
Gravity: 200%

Topics: News, Gulf Coast, Hurricane, Katrina Wilma, tropical storm, Rita, Bush, economy

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