UPI NewsTrack Business

WASHINGTON, April 26 (UPI) -- House Democratic leaders are urging the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether market manipulation is leading to high gas prices, officials said.

The Hill reported in a letter Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said lawmakers want to know if the oil industry is manipulating prices by reducing production or taking other steps to increase profits.

"The FTC must no longer delay action on implementing the mandate from Congress to stop market manipulation as American families and businesses struggle to deal with record gas prices," they said.

Noting Congress last year passed legislation that directs the FTC to ensure the domestic oil market is free market manipulation, the lawmakers said the agency "has failed to exercise its power to protect consumers from skyrocketing energy costs."

CBS News reported that on Friday, gas prices rose 2.1 cents to a record national average of $3.577 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

What's more, analysts expect gas prices to continue rising for at least another month, the network said.

PARIS, April 26 (UPI) -- Biofuels are critical to meeting current and future fuel demand despite their possible role in driving up food prices, the International Energy Agency says.

The Financial Times reported Saturday biofuels account for about half of the extra fuel coming to the market from sources outside OPEC.

"If we didn't have those barrels, I am not sure where we would be getting those half-a-million barrels (from)," IEA deputy executive director William Ramsey said, adding that OPEC has said it would not increase supply.

Some have said that the discussion about biofuels should take into account their implications for other sectors of the market.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says biofuels account for 10 percent of the increase in food prices, the newspaper said.

ABUJA, Nigeria, April 26 (UPI) -- Oil output in Nigeria is falling despite spiking global demand, officials said.

The BBC reported Saturday that two of the nation's biggest oil producers -- Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell -- have cut production in part because of attacks from militants.

Oil production in Nigeria is about 25 percent below the official capacity of 2.5 million barrels a day. Nigeria is the world's eighth largest oil producer.

The BBC said militiamen in the Niger Delta have blown up a section of a Shell pipeline, in the fourth such attack in the last week.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta promised continued attacks.

"Our candid advice to the oil majors is that they should not waste their time repairing any lines, as we will continue to sabotage them," the militant group said in a statement.

Complicating the situation is a labor dispute at Exxon Mobil, where a strike began recently over pay and working conditions.

CHICAGO, April 26 (UPI) -- The Chicago-based online auction company UBid is preparing to sell liquidated merchandise to cash in on retail bankruptcies, a UBid official says.

UBid Chief Executive Officer Jeff Hoffman said the company would begin selling merchandise from one business to another at fixed prices to expand UBid's holdings, the Chicago Sun-Times said Saturday.

"We are repositioning UBid as no longer just an online auction site (for consumers), but as an excess inventory solutions company," Hoffman said.

The liquidated items that will likely be sold at so-called "tent sales" will include bulky items not conducive to online sales.

Hoffman told the Sun-Times such sales would allow the 11-year-old company to capitalize on bankrupted businesses.

"Let's say a company goes under and leaves behind 2,500 washer-dryer pairs," he said. "There's a good chance that some other business wants those appliances, and we can deliver them all at once."

www.upi.com