FTC has no action yet on gas prices complaint

Nearly four months after the CNMI complained about Mobil gas stations’ high retail prices on the islands, the Federal Trade Commission has yet to take concrete action on the complaint.

To date, CNMI consumer counsel Brian Caldwell said the FTC has yet to communicate with his office, which filed a letter complaint listing the prices of gasoline on all Mobil stations on the islands.

Caldwell had sought the FTC’s assistance in ascertaining whether or not anomalies in trade practices are actually occurring in the Marianas.

The complaint listed down 10 Mobil gas stations on Saipan, which had uniform prices for regular and premium gasoline. Mobil gas stations on the islands then retailed regular and super gasoline at $2.539 and $2.629 per gallon at full-serve rate. Self-serve rate for regular and super gasoline was at that time $2.329 and $2.429, respectively.

By then, Mobil’s cumulative gallon price adjustment for the year was already 22 cents. The cumulative gallon price increase to date has reached 31 cents.

Caldwell said, though, that no consumer has actually filed a formal complaint before his office against retail prices of both Mobil and Shell gasoline. He also noted the high prices of oil in the world market.

“We’re generally impacted,” Caldwell said. He said he was uncertain if the price adjustments implemented by Mobil and Shell were reasonable. He refused to comment if there is any investigation being conducted at the moment.

Just last week, Shell and Mobil gas stations raised gallon prices again by 4 cents.

The new round of price increases by Shell is its sixth for the year. It first raised gallon prices by 7 cents in January, before increasing them again by 5 cents three times, and then 3 cents two months ago, before the new 4-cent hike. Shell’s cumulative gallon price adjustment for the year has now reached at least 29 cents.

Mobil, meanwhile, has raised pump prices seven times since January this year, increasing gallon prices first by 3 cents, and then 4 cents, before taking on four rounds of 5-cent adjustments and the new 4-cent hike—resulting in the 31-cent cumulative gallon price adjustment for the year.

The Attorney General’s Office has joined the FTC’s national gas price-monitoring campaign. According to the AGO, complaints about gas prices could be sent by email to attorneygeneral@saipan.com or in writing to this address: Office of the Attorney General-Civil Division, Caller Box 10007, Capitol Hill, Saipan, MP96950.