April, 06 2022, 03:05pm EDT
Congress Presses Oil Giants to Explain Refusal to Lower Gas Prices Despite Massive Profits
Today at a congressional hearing, executives from oil giants BP America, Chevron, Devon Energy, ExxonMobil, Pioneer Natural Resources, and Shell were pressed to explain their refusal to lower
WASHINGTON
Today at a congressional hearing, executives from oil giants BP America, Chevron, Devon Energy, ExxonMobil, Pioneer Natural Resources, and Shell were pressed to explain their refusal to lower gas prices despite their massive profits.
"Today executives from some of Big Oil's largest companies failed to explain why they refuse to use their eye-popping $71.2 billion in profits to lower gas prices for American consumers struggling to fill their tanks and instead choose to shower wealthy executives and shareholders with billions in dividends and stock buybacks. They should be ashamed," said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US. ""The fact these executives didn't even bother to show up in person today tells you all you need to know about how seriously they're taking this crisis. Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle were right to call them out. Instead, these executives are far more interested in exploiting the pandemic and war in Ukraine to pad their bottom lines and make Americans pay on both ends. They are gouging consumers at the pump and rigging the system to avoid paying their fair share in drilling royalties on public lands, shortchanging taxpayers, public schools, and critical infrastructure like roads and hospitals."
The executives appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee for a hearing titled, "Gouged at the Gas Station: Big Oil and America's Pain at the Pump."
- Massive Profits: The six companies testifying today reported more than $71.2 billion in profits in 2021.
- Billions to Shareholders, Not Consumers: They used over $8 billion of those record profits on stock buybacks and over $38 billion on shareholder dividends.
- They Want High Prices: Many of the witnesses today are on the record celebrating high commodity prices for the benefit to their bottom line.
- Buying Influence: Republican members of Energy and Commerce have taken over $11.5 million from the oil and gas industry in campaign contributions; all but one of the 26 has taken in five figures.
Accountable.US is a nonpartisan watchdog that exposes corruption in public life and holds government officials and corporate special interests accountable by bringing their influence and misconduct to light. In doing so, we make way for policies that advance the interests of all Americans, not just the rich and powerful.
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