The year 2023 was marked by two megadeals in the oil and gas industry that led environmental interest groups to call on the FTC to intervene despite the lack of obvious antitrust issues. It remains to be seen whether the FTC will take legal action to block the transactions.
Over the past year, the agency has attempted to expand and increase its enforcement reach by filing charges on nontraditional theories and demanding more from businesses in its consent orders. That said, the FTC has not yet decided to expand its reach in this sector. Yet at a time of growing pressure from environmental groups and lawmakers to bring more lawsuits, balancing antitrust laws and other concerns may prove difficult for the FTC.
When it comes to FERC, the takeaway for customers is that projects will take longer to gain approval. With respect to oil and liquids pipelines, FERC has focused on pricing, issuing historic orders on cost-based rates and market-based rates for existing systems at a time when the Historic inflation collides with obligations to implement new environmental and pipeline safety regulations. projects that require extracting as much as possible from existing infrastructure.
