Washington (Platts)--14May2008

The US Federal Trade Commission has agreed to launch an inquiry into
ongoing record high gasoline prices, US Senator Dick Durbin's office reported
said Wednesday.

FTC officials said they would start the investigation in testimony
Wednesday before the Senate Appropriations Financial Services and General
Government Subcommittee, which Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, chairs, his
office said in a statement.

The FTC is responsible for investigating consumer protection and
competition issues in broad sectors of the economy. Previous agency
investigations into allegations of gasoline price fixing found no evidence of
industry collusion.

Mitchell Katz, an FTC spokesmen who was not at the hearing said, FTC
Chairman William Kovacic "apparently said we are taking a 'deeper look' into
jet fuel and diesel prices. Nothing about an investigation or gas prices, as
far as I have heard," Katz said. "[Kovacic] also apparently said we are
looking 'quite carefully' at how refiners decide which products to produce."

Durbin wrote Kovacic on April 23 asking him to investigate "two current
trends in the oil market which are having devastating effects on consumers,
commuters and air travelers."

Durbin specifically mentioned the high price of diesel fuel and the spike
in jet fuel costs. "I urge the FTC to undertake a comprehensive investigation
of oil and gas markets to gain a better understanding of the current price
spikes and widening gaps in diesel and jet fuel prices."

Max Gleischman, Durbin's press secretary, said the senator's general
understanding of what Kovacic said "was that they were going to take his
letter to heart and conduct an investigation or at the very least an inquiry."

--Gerald Karey, gerald_karey@platts.com