In a status report provided to Congress on July 28, the Federal Trade Commission has stated that the new Phase 2 reformulated gasoline requirements "seem unlikely . to provide a complete explanation for recent Midwestern gas price increases." On June 21, the Federal Trade Commission launched a formal investigation into price gouging by oil companies when gas prices spiked to more than $2 a gallon in some cities in the Midwestern earlier this spring.

The interim report, while acknowledging the new reformulated gasoline requirements and the Unocal patent dispute may have tightened supply, noted that prices for conventional gasoline rose even more than for reformulated gasoline, and thus it was unlikely the reformulated gasoline program was responsible for the higher prices. The final report is not expected until sometime after the November elections.