Gasoline Price Changes - Federal Trade Commission

GASOLINE PRICE CHANGES:
INVESTIGATION], available at www.ftc.gov/os/2001/03/mwgasrpt.htm.
2. Gasoline Climbs Anew on Wood River Fire, PLATTS OILGRAM NEWS, May 1, 2001.
3. These prices reflect the average of retail prices collected and published by the Oil Price Information Service
(OPIS), a private company.
4. OPIS, supra note 3.
5. Cathy Landry et al., Citgo Asks for US Help on Midwest “Gas”; Market jumps as Lemont may be down 6 months,
PLATTS OILGRAM NEWS, Aug. 24, 2001.
6. Conoco Oklahoma Refinery Back, OIL DAILY, Oct. 23, 2003.
7. See also Mary Coleman, Remarks at the FTC Conference on Factors that Affect Prices of Refined Petroleum
Products 127 (Aug. 2, 2001) [hereinafter, citations to conference transcripts include the speaker’s last name,
transcript date, and page cite(s)]. Transcripts of the Conference and presentations are available at
http://www.ftc.gov/bc/gasconf/index.htm.
8. MIDWEST INVESTIGATION, supra note 1, § II.A, “The Spring and Early Summer 2000 Spike in Midwest Gasoline
Prices.”
9. The drop in price corresponds with the repaired pipeline and increased supplies entering the area.
10. MIDWEST INVESTIGATION, supra note 1, § III.B.1.b, “Pipeline Disruptions.”
11. See supra Chapter 1, Text Box 1-1.
12. Coleman 8/2 at 3. Marginal supply refers to the supply that is drawn into a market just at the current price; if the
current price fell, that marginal supply would no longer be sold in that market. A current price is the price necessary
to bring in supplies sufficient to meet current demand. See supra Chapter 1, Text Box 1-1 for a fuller explanation.
13. OPIS, supra note 3.
14. Environmental regulations typically allow the use of more volatile gasoline during the winter months, because
air quality generally is better during the winter and higher volatility assists gasoline combustion in cold weather.
See MIDWEST INVESTIGATION, supra note 1, § II.B, “EPA Regulations Requiring the Use of Reformulated Gasoline
in Certain Urban Areas.”
15. Gas Prices: How Are They Really Set?: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcomm. on Investigations, Senate
Gov’t Affairs Comm., 107th Cong. (May 2, 2002) (statement of Jennifer M. Granholm, Attorney General, State of
Michigan), available at http://hsgac.senate.gov/050202granholm.htm. See also supra Chapter 1 discussion of
Kinder Morgan pipeline disruption in Arizona and the impact of environmental regulations on the prices in Phoenix
as compared with the prices in Tucson.
16. MICH. PUB. SERV. COMM’N, REPORT ON AUGUST 14TH BLACKOUT 81-84 (Nov. 2003), at
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mpsc_blackout_77423_7.pdf.
17. Id.
18. RBOB is blended with ethanol to make RFG.
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, JUNE 2005