Lawmakers grill oil executives
Alleged price gouging was main talking point
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill grilled several oil executives from the nation’s biggest suppliers as gas prices skyrocket. While Democrats accused them of price gouging, Republicans pointed the finger at Joe Biden.
“The American people, whom we represent, provide the industry with more than $30 billion a year in subsidies, while the oil and gas companies report record-high profits,” said U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colorado. “While American families are forced to pay record-high prices at the pump, frankly, this committee is not going to sit back and then through tax breaks to continue in its current form.”
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce invited the heads of BP, Chevron, Devon Energy, ExxonMobil, Pioneer Natural Resources Company and Shell to testify in person, but all testified virtually during the six-hour hearing titled “Gouged at the Gas Station: Big Oil and America’s Pain at the Pump.”
Democratic Congresswoman Lori Trahan of Lowell needled Gretchen Watkins, president of Shell, over its decision to purchase 100,000 barrels of Russian oil on March 1, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began.
Watkins responded that Shell shortly thereafter walked back that decision, and walked away from $3 billion in investments.
Trahan then pointed out that although the oil executives talked “extensively” about the external global factors affecting oil prices outside their control.
“These same executives and their companies are independently deciding not to invest in new supply or produce more, which would drive down gas prices for consumers in order to return value to the shareholder,” she said.
“You may not directly control price, but you do manipulate supply to decrease the amount of product on the market. And you do that to create scarcity, which at the end of the day drives up costs for hardworking Americans.”
She ran out of time before the executives could respond.
While Democrats echoed Trahan’s sentiment and blamed the hikes on Big Oil, Republicans blamed President Biden for the hikes.
“Rather than deflect blame, President Biden should consider his own culpability for higher energy prices, thanks to his relentless pursuit of policies that discourage domestic energy production, driving gas prices up to levels not seen since Mr. Biden was vice president,” said committee member Rep. Morgan Griffith, a Virginia Republican.
Throughout the hearing, the executives deflected blame onto global factors outside their control for jacking up gas prices, though many said they were stepping up supply to meet demand as best they could. ExxonMobil’s CEO said it expects to increase production by 25% over last year.