{
  "id": "RS22262",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RS22262",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
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      "id": 363556,
      "date": "2008-05-28",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T03:24:16.169306",
      "title": "\u201cPrice Gouging,\u201d the Antitrust Laws, and Vertical Integration in the Petroleum Industry: How They Are Related",
      "summary": "The antitrust laws and statutes to prohibit \u201cprice gouging\u201d each aim to serve the same end\u2014realization of lower or reasonable prices for consumers, but they do so from different perspectives. Antitrust law operates on the premise that vigorous and unfettered marketplace competition will yield the most advantageous result for consumers. Statutes concerning \u201cprice gouging,\u201d by contrast, are direct consumer-protection measures, generally making no reference to competition. Statutes to limit the extent of vertical integration in the petroleum industry (common ownership of different stages of production, marketing, or retailing) have been proposed at the federal level, and exist at the state level, but contrary to the expectations of proponents, the price of gasoline in those states that prohibit refiners from operating retail gasoline stations is generally higher than in states without similar prohibitions. Although the potential for anticompetitive actions by vertically integrated entities has been noted by, among others, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), it also states in a 2005 report, that \u201cthe vast majority of the FTC\u2019s investigations [into the petroleum industry] have revealed market factors to be the primary drivers of both price increases and price spikes.\u201d The Energy Policy Act of 2005 required an FTC investigation \u201cto determine if the price of gasoline is being artificially manipulated by reducing refinery capacity or by any other form of market manipulation or price-gouging practices\u201d; the 110th Congress enacted the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 with a provision authorizing the FTC to promulgate a rule concerning market manipulation. Also in the 110th Congress, the House has passed H.R. 1252, which would define \u201cprice gouging\u201d as \u201cexcessively unconscionable\u201d or \u201cunreasonably\u201d increased prices during Presidentially declared \u201cenergy emergencies,\u201d incorporates the FTC Act, directs FTC enforcement, and provides for civil and criminal penalties (several, similar measures are pending in the Senate Commerce Committee); and H.R. 6074 to make \u201coil-producing and exporting cartels illegal\u201d under U.S. antitrust laws. This report, which may be updated to further reflect congressional action, attempts to provide the antitrust context for the prohibited practices, notes prior congressional action concerning vertical divestiture in the petroleum industry, and provides information on the state \u201cdivorcement\u201d statutes.",
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      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
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      "id": "RS22262_2007Mar15",
      "date": "2007-03-15",
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      "title": "\u201cPrice Gouging,\u201d the Antitrust Laws, and Vertical Integration in the Petroleum Industry: How They Are Related",
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc819638/",
      "id": "RS22262_2006May08",
      "date": "2006-05-08",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "\u201cPrice Gouging,\u201d the Antitrust Laws, and Vertical Integration: How They Are Related",
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc808993/",
      "id": "RS22262_2005Sep15",
      "date": "2005-09-15",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "\u201cPrice Gouging,\u201d the Antitrust Laws, and Vertical Integration: How They Are Related",
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  "topics": [
    "Economic Policy",
    "Energy Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs"
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}