INDUSTRY Collusion or Costs? When major oil companies raised the price of crude oil 25¢ a bbl. last month, and retail price increases for gasoline and home-heating oils followed. New Jersey's Republican Charles A. Wolverton, chairman of the House Committee oh Interstate & Foreign Commerce, let out a yell.
What, he asked, could justify the price hikes at a time of "sustained high earnings" and when "stringent reduction of oil imports is being urged" because of a surplus and cutback in U.S. production? Since all the companies increased prices at almost the same time, he also suspected "collusion." called for an...