US to probe petrol price gouging claims, Trump says

US President Donald Trump has said he has ordered an investigation into major energy companies, accusing them of “gouging” customers by not cutting petrol prices after the cost of crude oil fell on global markets.

Trump wrote on social media that he has ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to “immediately start looking into this”, adding he had expected to see petrol prices fall “a lot faster than what I’m seeing.” He did not name any oil firms in the post.

His remarks come after the price of oil retreated from peaks seen during the Iran war but remain higher than before the conflict started.

The BBC has contacted the DOJ and the White House for comment.

“The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil,” Trump said in the post.

“Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being ‘gouged.'”

Oil prices have seen dramatic swings since the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.

Tehran responded to the US-Israeli strikes by effectively shutting the critical Strait of Hormuz waterway, severely disrupting shipments of oil and gas and sending energy prices sharply higher.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, reached almost $120 (£91) a barrel in May.

The price of Brent has dropped to around $76 barrel as peace talks progress but is still above the roughly $70 a barrel mark it was at before the conflict.

Meanwhile, the average price of regular gasoline in the US has fallen to about $3.90 a gallon after topping $4 a gallon in April but remains well above pre-war levels.