President Donald Trump’s Federal Trade Commission chair has moved to cancel restrictions on two oil company executives accused of working with foreign governments to raise oil prices.

Last month, the FTC took initial steps to lift two orders applying to Scott Sheffield, founder and former CEO of Pioneer Resources, and John B. Hess, CEO of Hess Corporation. The orders prohibited Sheffield from serving on the board of directors of Exxon, which bought Pioneer, and blocked Hess from filling a seat on the board of Chevron, which acquired Hess’s company.

The FTC under former President Joe Biden had accused Sheffield and Hess of colluding with representatives of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut back on production of oil and gas, raising fuel prices for Americans.

News outlet The Lever reported that Sheffield and his family members have donated $4.2 million in federal and state elections since 2020 to pro-oil and gas politicians of bot parties. Hess’s oil company donated $1 million to Trump’s first inaugural committee and later served on Trump's Opening the Country Council in 2020 for post-pandemic economic recovery.

Since June 2024, the Senate Budget Committee has been investigating the case as part of a wider probe into collusion across the energy sector with OPEC to raise prices.