Synopsis of Presentation of Robert S. Bassman on
Behalf of Petroleum Marketers Association of America

The Petroleum Marketers Association of America ("PMAA") is a federation of 42 state and regional associations representing over 7,000 independent marketers of petroleum products throughout the nation. These marketers distribute over: 50% of the on road gasoline, 60% of the diesel fuel and 75% of the home heating oil consumed in America.

PMAA members have recently had to cope with extreme supply and price volatility in the marketplace in order to meet the needs of their customers. This volatility has been caused by many factors including: the balkanization of fuel requirements throughout the country to meet environmental regulations, the lessening of competition for PMAA members’ business created by the consolidation of integrated and non-integrated refining companies that has occurred in the last five plus years, and the lack of investment in new refining, transportation and finished petroleum product storage infrastructure caused in great part by environmentally related costs and litigation pressures.

PMAA believes that the Federal Trade Commission must pay special attention to all of these factors when it reviews current and upcoming mergers in the industry. Petroleum products continue to be the lifeblood of the American economy. Thus, the FTC’s merger review, as well as crafting of remedial measures, must go beyond their traditional scope if they are to adequately measure and ameliorate the competitive impacts of such proposed mergers.