Senator Weighs Action Against Big Oil

WASHINGTON -- In light of the record-breaking fourth-quarter profits of the major oil companies, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee said on Wednesday that Congress would attempt to address growing concerns about rising fuel prices and soaring oil industry profits, reported Reuters.

"We intend to do something about" rising prices to consumers, Chairman Arlen Specter said at a hearing into whether oil industry mergers in recent years have made gasoline more expensive at the pump.

Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said in the report he was shocked by the size of oil company profits, adding, "It just may be time to legislate in this field."

After the hearing, Specter raised the possibility of modifying federal antitrust laws to impose tougher oversight on mergers in the industry and crack down on any abuse of market power, Reuters reported.

Further investigation was needed before reaching any final conclusions, Specter told reporters, but the number of mergers in recent years has been "excessive on its face."

"There are a lot of red flags out there," he told Reuters, referring to rising prices and record industry profits.

Exxon Mobil Corp. said Monday it earned $10.7 billion in the fourth quarter of last year and $36.1 billion for all of 2005 -- more than the economies of 125 countries, according to the report.

Officials from six major oil companies refused to testify at the hearing. Specter criticized their failure to appear and said in the report he might seek subpoenas to compel their testimony.

The Judiciary Committee had asked representatives from ExxonMobil, Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, Valero Energy Corp. and the U.S. units of BP plc and Royal Dutch Shell plc to tell their side of the story.

The FTC is investigating whether oil companies manipulated gasoline prices and oil refining production levels. The agency plans to finish its probe and send its findings to Congress this May, according to the report.