US companies to be held accountable for gas prices

"The oil industry may be exploiting the war in Ukraine for its own economic gain," says the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The top executives of six oil companies have been summoned to appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on 6 April in connection with high gasoline prices in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In letters sent Wednesday, Frank Pallone Jr, D-New Jersey, chairman of the committee, requested that executives from six companies appear on April 6 to answer questions about the war in Europe, their revenues, fuel prices, stock buybacks, domestic oil production and other corporate activities.

"I am concerned that the oil industry may be exploiting the war in Ukraine for its own economic gain," Pallone said in the letters.

"Oil companies are currently making record profits," he said. "While Americans are recovering from the coronavirus? closures and demand for gasoline increased, oil companies kept supply low and prices high."

Pallone's letters follow comments Wednesday by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer accusing big oil and gas companies of possible "predatory pricing," noting that gasoline prices have remained high in recent days following the drop in crude oil prices. Schumer also called for top oil company executives to be subpoenaed to testify before Congress.

Several Senate committees with jurisdiction over these issues also intend to trigger more hearings, according to a Democratic member of the Senate.

Talks about gas prices have dominated Congress and Washington in the wake of the Russia attack, with President Joe Biden sanctioning US imports of Russian fossil fuel supplies, Democrats pushing to suspend the federal gas tax and Republicans and moderate Democrats calling for increased domestic oil and gas drilling and production.

The companies called by Pallone are BP, Chevron, Devon Energy, Exxon Mobil, Pioneer Natural Resources and Shell. A BP spokesman said the company is reviewing the request. The others did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Oil prices topped $130 a barrel in early March and US gasoline prices also rose, reaching about $4.33 a gallon on average on March 11, according to the AAA auto club.

Since then, oil prices have declined, although they rose again on Thursday. Brent, the international oil benchmark, opened at less than $100 a barrel on Thursday morning and was trading at more than $106 by midday, while the US benchmark was trading at more than $102 a barrel, up $7 from Wednesday's price. Gasoline prices have fallen to a national average of $4.289 on Thursday, down from $4.305 on Wednesday, according to AAA.

Industry experts say there can be a lag of days or weeks between crude oil prices traded on the world market and the costs drivers pay to fill up.

Democratic leader Schumer said on Wednesday that the Senate would also investigate "the puzzling inconsistency between falling oil prices and rising gasoline prices", something he said "smacks of price manipulation". Schumer did not specify which committee would hold such a hearing.