These Gas Prices Are More About Greed Than War — Here’s Why

Originally Published April 2022

So! In this week’s episode of American fuckery, we have the United States Congress fake caring about big oil companies price gouging American citizens at the pump. In a recent hearing, oil executives were questioned by members of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations for “ripping off” Americans with high fuel prices even though prices have dropped for crude oil.

The hearing came as the public pointed out that big oil companies have turned unprecedented profits, even with the rise in oil prices. For example, BP posted its highest profit since 2012, pulling in $12.8 billion for 2021. BP also posted fourth-quarter net profit of $4.1 billion, beating analyst expectations of $3.9 billion. And Exxon said that its first-quarter profits could top $9 billion, compared with $8.8 billion in the fourth quarter, because who gone check them? Right.

Representative Diana DeGette, who heads the commission, questioned the profits earned by the companies, and cited $30 billion in taxpayer subsidies they received. Is it a coincidence that they’re buying back their stock at an estimated cost of $40 billion this year? Probably not. As the hearing went on, it became clear that these companies had every intention of lining their pockets with one hand while taking billions in taxpayer subsidies with the other. And real quick, we should point out that executives from Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell…