House leaders call on FTC to investigate high gas prices

House Democratic leaders urged federal regulators Friday to investigate whether market manipulation has contributed to record-high gasoline prices.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and six other members of the House leadership urged the Federal Trade Commission to use new authority to investigate the oil and gas markets for price manipulation and other fraud.

“Recent price volatility and investor speculation in the oil market require the diligent oversight Congress called for, especially when oil prices break records daily, hitting $119 per barrel this week,” the letter said.

Pelosi’s request comes as skyrocketing oil and gas prices are taking on a higher political profile. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama on Friday blamed gas prices “approaching $4 a gallon” on the failure of Washington politicians to stand up to oil companies.

And a group of senators on Thursday urged President Bush to halt billions of dollars in sophisticated arms sales to Saudi Arabia and several other Middle East oil producers unless they agreed to boost production.

The pressure may increase next week, when ExxonMobil Corp. is expected to report a huge quarterly profit. Wall Street analysts project that the company will report net income of more than $11 billion for the first quarter.

Mitchell Katz, a spokesman for the FTC, said the agency had received the letter and would “respond to it quickly.” He declined to comment on whether the FTC would launch an investigation.