2023 saw two megadeals in the oil & gas industry that have led to calls from environmental interest groups for the FTC to intervene despite a lack of obvious antitrust issues. Whether the FTC will sue to block the deals remains to be seen.
In the past year, the agency has tried to extend and grow its enforcement reach bringing cases on nontraditional theories and requiring more from companies in its consent orders. That said, the FTC has not yet moved to extend its reach in this sector. Still, at a time of increasing pressure from environmental groups and lawmakers to bring more suits, balancing the antitrust laws against other concerns may prove difficult for the FTC.
As far as FERC, the takeaway for clients is that projects are going to take longer to gather approval. In relation to oil & liquids pipelines, FERC’s focus has been firmly on ratemaking, issuing landmark orders on cost-based rates and market-based rates for legacy systems at a time when historic inflation is colliding with obligations to implement new environmental and pipeline safety regulatory schemes that necessitate squeezing as much as possible out of existing infrastructure.