Boxer Requests Probe of 2 Oil Firms’ Actions
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U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate allegations that Chevron Corp. and Equilon, which markets the Shell brand, are trying to control gasoline prices by driving independent dealers out of business.
In a letter sent Wednesday to FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky, Boxer said hundreds of independents who lease stations from the companies have been pushed to the brink of bankruptcy.
“Many of them have been the victims of an unrelenting campaign,” Boxer said during a news conference on Wednesday at a Shell station in Hollywood.
The companies denied the allegations. A call to the FTC was not immediately returned.
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