National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; Notice of Closed Meeting, 15609 [2015-06595]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 56 / Tuesday, March 24, 2015 / Notices
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hard work in this matter. Staff has
worked diligently to collect and analyze
evidence related to numerous product
markets within the Hawaiian gasoline
industry. Indeed, Staff’s thorough
investigation has narrowed the scope of
potential competitive concerns arising
from the proposed transaction to the
single theory of harm alleged in the
Complaint. Based upon the evidence, I
concluded there is no reason to believe
the proposed transaction is likely to
lessen competition in any relevant
market. It follows, in my view, that the
Commission should close the
investigation and allow the parties to
complete the merger without imposing
a remedy.
The Complaint articulates a theory of
competitive harm arising from the
proposed transaction based upon the
possibility that Par, a bulk supplier of
HIBOB, will foreclose a potential
downstream customer, Aloha
Petroleum, Ltd. (‘‘Aloha’’), from its
ability to import to discipline the prices
of bulk-supplied HIBOB. Par’s
acquisition of Mid Pac includes the
latter’s storage rights at Barbers Point
Terminal. Mid Pac and Aloha each
currently have storage rights at Barbers
Point Terminal sufficient to allow them
to import HIBOB. After the merger, Par
and Aloha would share access to the
terminal. The theory of harm articulated
in the Complaint is that Par would have
the incentive and ability to use its
newly acquired Mid Pac storage rights
to ‘‘park’’ petroleum products at Barbers
Point Terminal, and that this strategy
would reduce or eliminate Aloha’s
ability to discipline bulk supply prices
by threatening to import HIBOB, thus
resulting in higher HIBOB prices which
would ultimately be passed on to
Hawaii consumers.
The theory that Par might exclude
Aloha in this way is certainly a
plausible basis for further investigation.
Indeed, competitive concerns involving
the potential for exclusion are
commonly invoked in transactions with
vertical dimensions, though empirical
evidence demonstrates vertical
transactions are generally, but not
always, procompetitive or competitively
benign.2 The question, however, is
Aloha are classified as bulk suppliers. Nor does the
theory of harm articulated in the Complaint depend
upon a reduction in the number of competitors in
the bulk-supplied HIBOB market. I assume,
arguendo, that the market definition articulated in
the Complaint is correct and use it throughout this
statement without loss of generality.
2 See generally James C. Cooper, et al., Vertical
Antitrust Policy as a Problem of Inference, 23 Int’l
J. Indus. Org. 639 (2005); Francine Lafontaine &
Margaret Slade, Exclusive Contracts and Vertical
Restraints: Empirical Evidence and Public Policy, in
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whether the record evidence supports
the theory. In short, the answer is no.
For Par to have the incentive and ability
to engage in this strategy, it must be
profitable for it to do so. Neither
economic analysis nor record evidence
gives me reason to believe this is so. The
evidence strongly suggests such an
exclusionary strategy would not be
profitable without Chevron
Corporation’s (‘‘Chevron’s’’)
cooperation. Chevron is the only other
Hawaiian refiner aside from Par capable
of selling bulk supplies of HIBOB to
Aloha. Such tacit or explicit
coordination to exclude Aloha is highly
unlikely in the HIBOB market.
Furthermore, the record evidence also
indicates Aloha, the potential victim of
the strategy, does not have any reason
to believe Par would adopt this
potentially anticompetitive strategy.
Thus, I have no reason to believe that
post-acquisition, Par will have the
incentive and ability to raise prices of
the bulk supply of HIBOB.
Prior to entering into a consent
agreement with the merging parties, the
Commission must first find reason to
believe that a merger likely will
substantially lessen competition under
Section 7 of the Clayton Act. The fact
that the Commission believes the
proposed consent order is costless is not
relevant to this determination. A
plausible theory may be sufficient to
establish the mere possibility of
competitive harm, but that theory must
be supported by record evidence to
establish reason to believe its
likelihood. Modern economic analysis
supplies a variety of tools to assess
rigorously the likelihood of competitive
harm. These tools are particularly
important where, as here, the conduct
underlying the theory of harm—that is,
vertical integration—is empirically
established to be procompetitive more
often than not. Here, to the extent those
tools were used, they uncovered
evidence that, consistent with the
record as a whole, is insufficient to
support a reason to believe the proposed
transaction is likely to harm
competition. Thus, I respectfully dissent
and believe the Commission should
close the investigation and allow the
parties to complete the merger without
imposing a remedy.
15609
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
National Institutes of Health
National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute; Notice of Closed Meeting
Pursuant to section 10(d) of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act, as
amended (5 U.S.C. App.), notice is
hereby given of a meeting of the Board
of Scientific Counselors, NHLBI.
The meeting will be closed to the
public as indicated below in accordance
with the provisions set forth in section
552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C., as amended
for the review, discussion, and
evaluation of individual intramural
programs and projects conducted by the
National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute, including consideration of
personnel qualifications and
performance, and the competence of
individual investigators, the disclosure
of which would constitute a clearly
unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy.
Name of Committee: Board of Scientific
Counselors, NHLBI.
Date: April 27–28, 2015.
Time: 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Agenda: To review and evaluate personal
qualifications and performance, and
competence of individual investigators.
Place: Marriott Residence Inn Bethesda,
7335 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD
20814.
Contact Person: Robert S. Balaban, Ph.D.,
Scientific Director, National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health,
Building 10, 10 Center Drive, CRC, 4th Floor,
Room 1581, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301–496–
2116, balabanr@nhlbi.nih.gov.
Information is also available on the
Institute’s/Center’s home page:
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/committees/nhlbsc,
where an agenda and any additional
information for the meeting will be posted
when available.
(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance
Program Nos. 93.233, National Center for
Sleep Disorders Research; 93.837, Heart and
Vascular Diseases Research; 93.838, Lung
Diseases Research; 93.839, Blood Diseases
and Resources Research, National Institutes
of Health, HHS)
[FR Doc. 2015–06626 Filed 3–23–15; 8:45 am]
Dated: March 18, 2015.
Michelle Trout,
Program Analyst, Office of Federal Advisory
Committee Policy.
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
[FR Doc. 2015–06595 Filed 3–23–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140–01–P
Handbook of Antitrust Economics (Paolo
Buccirossi, ed., 2008).
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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 56 (Tuesday, March 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Page 15609]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-06595]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
National Institutes of Health
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; Notice of Closed
Meeting
Pursuant to section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as
amended (5 U.S.C. App.), notice is hereby given of a meeting of the
Board of Scientific Counselors, NHLBI.
The meeting will be closed to the public as indicated below in
accordance with the provisions set forth in section 552b(c)(6), Title 5
U.S.C., as amended for the review, discussion, and evaluation of
individual intramural programs and projects conducted by the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, including consideration of personnel
qualifications and performance, and the competence of individual
investigators, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly
unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
Name of Committee: Board of Scientific Counselors, NHLBI.
Date: April 27-28, 2015.
Time: 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Agenda: To review and evaluate personal qualifications and
performance, and competence of individual investigators.
Place: Marriott Residence Inn Bethesda, 7335 Wisconsin Avenue,
Bethesda, MD 20814.
Contact Person: Robert S. Balaban, Ph.D., Scientific Director,
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of
Health, Building 10, 10 Center Drive, CRC, 4th Floor, Room 1581,
Bethesda, MD 20892, 301-496-2116, balabanr@nhlbi.nih.gov.
Information is also available on the Institute's/Center's home
page: www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/committees/nhlbsc, where an agenda and
any additional information for the meeting will be posted when
available.
(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Nos. 93.233,
National Center for Sleep Disorders Research; 93.837, Heart and
Vascular Diseases Research; 93.838, Lung Diseases Research; 93.839,
Blood Diseases and Resources Research, National Institutes of
Health, HHS)
Dated: March 18, 2015.
Michelle Trout,
Program Analyst, Office of Federal Advisory Committee Policy.
[FR Doc. 2015-06595 Filed 3-23-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P
