Proposed natural gas company acquisition could push prices even higher
Contact: Secretary Rod Nilsestuen (608) 224-5013
MADISON–Natural gas prices could go even higher than the current projected increase of 60 percent if a proposed acquisition of Burlington Resource by ConocoPhillips takes place, says Rod Nilsestuen, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). The acquisition would make ConocoPhillips-Burlington the world’s second largest natural gas producer.
Nilsestuen is urging the Federal Trade Commission to “stop the acquisition since, unlike some products, natural gas is a necessity of life for those who use it to heat their homes…With even less competition, the ability to control prices by controlling supply becomes increasingly dangerous to the citizens of Wisconsin and the Nation.”
On December 1, DATCP at the direction of Governor Jim Doyle held a hearing to ask big oil companies to account for the run-away natural gas and oil prices. Thomas Mathiasmeier, a ConocoPhillips executive, testified that, “we have to invest in increasing supply.”
“But it looks like ConocoPhillips is doing their drilling on Wall Street,” says Secretary Nilsestuen. “Spending $35.6 billion to purchase an already existing company does nothing to increase the supply of natural gas. This business choice only hurts consumers who will continue to pay extremely high prices because oil companies are consolidating their control over supply.”
