Justice Department urges states to probe possible gas price gouging

The Justice Department on Friday called on states to “use all tools available” to investigate whether oil companies and individuals are intentionally inflating gas prices amid complaints from President Trump that they are falling too slowly.

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Andrew Ferguson also informed state attorneys general in a July 3 letter that the agencies are “closely monitoring petroleum markets” for potential violations of federal antitrust laws.

“We urge state law enforcers to join us in investigating illegal practices,” they wrote. “Recent volatility in crude oil prices does not suspend either the antitrust laws or state consumer protection laws, and it does not authorize companies to manipulate retail prices or collude with their competitors.”

More than three dozen U.S. states, territories and the District of Columbia have specific laws that prohibit raising prices on essential goods or services to exorbitant levels during disasters or emergencies, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Gas prices soared to near record highs this spring, as the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz choked off global oil supply for more than three-and-a-half months. About one-fifth of the world’s oil passes through the Gulf trade corridor during peacetime.

And while crude oil prices have cooled significantly in the weeks since an interim peace deal was signed, Americans are still paying more at the pump than they were before the war began in late February.

The national average for a gallon of gas was $3.82 as of Friday afternoon, with drivers in some West Coast states and Hawaii still paying more than $5 per gallon to fill their tanks.

The pace has frustrated Trump, who has seen his poll numbers take a drastic hit in recent months as voters’ economic anxieties grow.

“Gasoline Retailers must get their Prices down, IMMEDIATELY!” he wrote in a Monday evening post on Truth Social.

It followed an announcement from the president a few days earlier that he had directed federal prosecutors to “immediately start looking into” whether oil companies were manipulating prices.

“The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil,” he wrote, suggesting customers were being “gouged.”

“Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!” he warned.

Chevron CFO Eimear Bonner told CNBC last week that it would take some time for prices to return to normal, pushing back on Trump’s plea for a quick fix.

“What I would say is, we’re all concerned about prices. So, there is a lot of empathy, whether it’s in the U.S. or here in the U.K. or in Europe for consumers,” Bonner said on “Squawk Box Europe.”

“It’s going to take time though. There is a lag between, you know, oil prices and reductions in oil prices and when that shows up at the pump, but we expect that prices will come down as things continue to normalize,” she added.