OIL COMPANIES DEFEND HIGH PROFITS AT U.S. SENATE HEARINGS
"High gas prices are good for the comsumer" YUP, THAT'S A QUOTE!


Washington, DC.

Executives from five leading oil companies have defended their industry's high profits at a U.S. Senate hearing in Washington as lawmakers pressed them to account for soaring gasoline, diesel and natural gas prices in the months after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Acknowledging that high prices had hurt consumers, the oil company executives emphasized on Wednesday that by some measures their profits were not out of line and that prices were being driven by larger forces often out of their control.

"Today's higher prices are a function of longer-term supply-and-demand trends and lost energy production during the recent hurricanes," James Mulva, chairman and chief executive of ConocoPhillips, told a joint meeting of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Commerce Committee of the Senate.

"Most Americans and most of the polls show that our people have a growing suspicion that the oil companies are taking unfair advantage of the current market conditions to line their coffers with excess profits," Senator Pete Domenici, Republican of New Mexico, said during a televised hearing.

Some senators have called for a windfall profits tax on oil company earnings that would help families pay high heating bills and other energy costs

U.S. Oil, Gasoline and Natural Gas prices soared in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in late August and shut down the vast majority of offshore production and a significant amount of domestic oil refining.

Gasoline prices spiked past $3 a gallon in many parts of the United States, though they have retreated to pre-Katrina levels since. As of Monday, a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline cost $2.38 nationally, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Natural gas prices, however, remain about 20 percent higher than before Katrina - $11.83 per thousand cubic feet.

WORTH NOTING: No new refinery has been built in the United States since 1976. Companies have added to existing plants, which are also being operated closer to full capacity.

RELATED TOPIC : Gasoline Price Chart 1970 - 2005



 
Information is based on specs provided by manufacturers, private parties and other sources. Facts may change without notice. ElectricCars.net is not
responsible for accuracy of this information and does not guarantee the operational factors, mechanical workings or financial outcome of the use of any vehicle.
Layout, design & Content Copyright © 1997-2010 ElectricCars.net. All rights reserved Please read Terms of Usage