Familiar Back and Forth With Oil Executives

It’s becoming a rite of spring. Gasoline prices climb. Members of Congress fume. And oil executives make the trek to Capitol Hill to do battle over who’s to blame.

Facing unhappy members of the House Select Committee

on Energy Independence and Global Warming,

executives from five giant oil companies yesterday

sought to portray their firms as part of the energy

solution, not the energy problem.

And they put part of the blame for high oil prices on the

federal government, lamenting obstacles to offshore

drilling.


But the lawmakers took aim at the oil companies and the record profits they recorded last year.

“I believe the laws of supply and demand when it comes to oil and gas are broken and completely malfunctioning,” said Rep. John B. Larson (D-Conn.).

“Your approval ratings are down lower than ours, and that means you are down low,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.). Conversations with his constituents during the spring recess suggested that “the anger level is rising significantly,” Cleaver said.

Washington Post