The Federal Trade Commission V. The Oil Industry: An Autopsy on the Commission'S Shared Monopoly Case against the Nation'S Eight Largest Oil Companies

Abstract

This article focuses on the Federal Trade Commission's shared monopoly case against the nation's eight largest oil companies that was launched with considerable fanfare in July of 1973. Although the case was hailed by the Commission's staff as being the largest and most significant case since the historical Standard Oil case in 1911, it was subsequently dismissed in September 1981 after the Commission concluded that further proceedings were not in the public interest. The article reviews the case chronologically in the hope of providing some insights as to why the case was never successfully brought to trial. More specifically, it examines the difficulties that were created for the case by the Commission's failure to conduct an adequate pretrial investigation, structural obstacles inherent in the Commission's Rules of Practice, the Commission's dual role as both prosecutor and judge, and complaint counsel's inability or unwillingness to narrow the issues in the case. Finally, the article looks over the history of the case and attempts to identify the lessons that were learned at great cost to the parties that were involved and to the public.