In the May 31, 2022 article, Inflation is Going to Get Worse. Blame a Lack of Diesel, Time Magazine quoted AAI’s Diana Moss on oil refinery consolidation. From the story:
“The story of why there are fewer refineries has become politicized, like just about everything else in the economy. One explanation is that a lack of antitrust regulation in the U.S. allowed refinery mergers and acquisitions that might have been good for their bottom line but not for diesel supplies in the U.S. “We have been following petroleum refining for years—the amount of consolidation is just staggering,” says Diana L. Moss, the president of the American Antitrust Institute, a progressive nonprofit that advocates for more antitrust enforcement. The federal government was lax on stopping refinery mergers, she argues. And, she adds, when industries consolidate, companies can raise prices because customers have fewer options.”