117 S4049 IS: Oversight to Lower Oil Prices Act U.S. Senate 2022-04-07 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

II117th CONGRESS2d SessionS. 4049IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESApril 7, 2022Ms. Hassan (for herself, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Kelly, and Mr. Blumenthal) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and TransportationA BILLTo require the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and report on practices in the oil and gas industry.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Oversight to Lower Oil Prices Act.

2.

Definitions

In this Act:(1)

Appropriate committees of Congress

The term appropriate committees of Congress means Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. (2)

Commission

The term Commission means the Federal Trade Commission.

3.

Investigation into and reporting on market manipulation in the oil and gas industry

(a)

Investigation

Not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall initiate an investigation under sections 811 and 812 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17301, 17302) looking for evidence of market manipulation or reporting of false information in the oil, gas, petroleum, and petroleum product industries.(b)

Reporting

(1)

In general

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of Congress concerning any—(A)investigations undertaken under section 811 or 812 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17301, 17302);(B)enforcement actions initiated under section 813 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 17303); and(C)penalties levied under section 814 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 17304).(2)

Form of report

The report required under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in an unclassified form but may include a classified annex.