U.S. oil refiners are not conspiring to keep gasoline prices high and are not overcharging consumers for gasoline, the industry's trade group told the U.S. Congress on Thursday. Under pressure to do something about soaring fuel costs. President George W. Bush has ordered federal regulators to investigate whether oil companies and refiners are earning excessive profits from gasoline prices that are over $3 a gallon (3.8 liters) in many parts of the country. “Allegations of refiner price-fixing, price-gouging, and other illegal pricing practices are [completely] false,” Bob Slaughter, president of the National Petrochemicals and Refiners Association, told a congressional committee hearing on gasoline costs. Slaughter told the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee that the refining industry had been subjected to dozens of investigations in recent years when gasoline supplies were tight, and in each case the industry was cleared of any wrongdoing. Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, also defended the business practices of its big member companies. “We condemn price-gouging,” he said, adding that the cost of crude accounts for half of the cost of making gasoline. “Oil companies do not set the price of crude oil,” he told the panel. “It is bought and sold in international markets, and the price paid for a barrel of crude oil reflects the market conditions of that day.” There are 148 refineries currently operating the United States that can process more than 17 million barrels of crude oil per day into gasoline and other products. Companies are planning to expand refining capacity by 1.4 million barrels per day in the next few years, Slaughter said. The Federal Trade Commission is scheduled to send Congress a report by next week on the agency's latest investigation of high gasoline prices and possible refinery irregularities.
