[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 6, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2220-S2221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Federal Trade Commission

  Mr. President, last November, I wrote to the Federal Trade 
Commission, the FTC, urging them to investigate Exxon's $60 billion 
blockbuster merger with Pioneer, one of the largest mergers in energy 
industry in two decades. I warned that Exxon's deals--and Chevron's 
announced merger with Hess--had the red flags of anticompetitive 
behavior. I warned that these deals could open the floodgates to more 
consolidation, less competition, and higher prices, just to pad the 
profits of the largest oil companies.
  It turns out I was right. Since last November, there have been at 
least four multibillion-dollar mergers announced among America's large 
oil companies; and in all of 2023, there was an astounding 250 billion 
dollars' worth of oil and gas deals.
  So today, I authored a letter joined by 50 of my Senate and House 
Democratic colleagues in urging the FTC to increase its scrutiny over 
this wave of oil mergers to see if the mergers violate antitrust laws.
  Big Oil is alarmingly getting even bigger, and the FTC must 
investigate for the sake of consumers, workers, small businesses, 
because when oligopolistic behavior reigns, costs go up, and the public 
pays the price.
  History has shown that when America's largest oil companies go 
through consolidation, it eventually leads to higher gas prices. 
According to the Government Accountability Office, the GAO, the five 
biggest mergers of the 1990s and 2000s led to tangible spikes in 
prices, particularly the merger between Exxon and Mobil, which I 
fiercely opposed as a Congressman at that time.
  I have always said that one of the greatest mistakes of the 
Democratic administration in the 1990s was to allow this merger between 
Exxon and Mobil, as well as the merger between Chevron and Texaco, 
because, as we saw, competition greatly suffered and costs went up for 
consumers.
  That is why I strongly opposed those deals back then. When you look 
back, you say: How the heck did even a Democratic administration allow 
Exxon and Mobil to merge, Chevron and Texaco to merge? But, sadly, 
history is repeating itself when it comes to oil mergers; although, the 
Biden administration has not been supportive.
  And let's not kid ourselves, these mergers aren't just about 
efficiency or lowering costs. These mergers are about buying out the 
competition so the newly consolidated industry can boost profits at the 
expense of consumers. And these profits have become

[[Page S2221]]

the jet fuel, so to speak, for a record wave of stock buybacks and 
grotesque levels of executive pay. In January, Chevron announced $75 
billion in stock buybacks, which will cut the number of shares by as 
much as 20 percent. Exxon, likewise, announced another $35 billion in 
buybacks for this year and next. These are just two examples of many.
  Americans, meanwhile, will continue to feel the sting of Big Oil's 
greed every time they go to the pump. That is why we are calling on the 
FTC to look into this pattern of consolidation announced in recent 
months and step in, if necessary.