As Boast said, if there was illegal conduct, the agency will find out. Oil industry officials denied the price fixing allegations. In addition, a Congressional Research Service report last week said the main factors for the high prices are pipeline troubles and the use of reformulated, or cleaner-burning, gas with ethanol. Prices began to drop last week. Agency officials are promising a status report on the inquiry for Congress by July 21, which will be secret, as is virtually the entire investigation.
Price fixing is forbidden if businesses engage in explicit agreements to do so.
But it's not against the law for firms to take note of rivals' prices and adjust their own accordingly, legal experts said. Stephen Calkins, a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, was general counsel to the FTC from 1995 to 1997. Nor do antitrust laws prohibit high prices, he said. If there were a freeze in Florida that destroys half the orange crop, one would expect orange juice prices to soar. According to Calkins, it's against the law for companies to join together and enter agreements that reduce competition.