Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group Formed in the US

While it’s nothing new that gas prices rise and fall, the connection is sometimes looser than we would like. This didn’t stop the Department of Justice from forming a new task force to look into the matter. Americans can now rest a little easier, knowing that the “Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group” is hard at work making sure that consumers aren’t getting the short end of the stick when they fill up their tanks, says a CNN Money report.

"Rapidly rising gasoline prices are pinching the pockets of consumers across the country," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a written statement released at the Justice Department. "We will be vigilant in monitoring the oil and gas markets for any wrongdoing so that consumers can be confident they are not paying higher prices as a result of illegal activity.”

Speaking on the matter while in Reno, Nevada, President Obama made no effort to hide the fact that the move comes as a result of public outrage, saying that “the gas issue is serious…it hurts.” He then went on to joke about how every time gas prices begin to enrage consumers, politicians come out and reveal their plan to lower gas prices back to $2 a gallon, and once it gets there, the whole situation starts over again.

The group will consist of representatives from the National Association of (State) Attorneys General, the Treasury Department, the Energy Department and several other financial regulatory agencies.

Their job will be to determine “whether there is any evidence of manipulation of oil and gas prices, collusion, fraud, or misrepresentations at the retail or wholesale levels that would violate state or federal laws.”