The American Petroleum Institute (API) issued a statement regarding the report by the majority staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. “America’s gasoline refiners have cooperated with numerous federal and state investigations over the past three decades, all of which have found no evidence of collusion or other anti-competitive activity by the petroleum industry. These investigations have shed light on the many factors that determine the price of gasoline at the pump. “Fuel prices are driven by market forces. Because crude oil is the largest non-tax cost component of a gallon of gasoline, the price of gasoline is determined largely by the demand and supply of crude oil worldwide. “Gasoline prices are also affected by refinery and pipeline interruptions and by constraints that numerous specialized fuels across the country place on refineries and pipelines. Each time there have been supply problems, companies responded by rushing in additional supplies to affected areas and gasoline prices consequently have gone down. “The problems that cause market volatility are likely to continue until refiners gain greater regulatory flexibility to decide how best to fully meet all clean-air goals.”