Democrats Plan Hearings to Blame Oil Companies for High Gas Prices

House Democrats will hold hearings blaming oil and natural gas companies for the soaring gas prices under President Joe Biden.

The House Energy Commerce Committee will hold a hearing, “Gouged at the Gas Station: Big Oil and America’s Pain at the Pump,” on April 6 that will include the CEOs of Chevron, Devon, Exxon Mobil, Pioneer Natural Resources, and the presidents of Shell USA and BP America.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Diana DeGette (D-CO), the chair of the oversight and investigations subcommittee, blamed oil executives for not doing enough to lower gas prices.

“Fossil fuel companies are not doing enough to relieve pain at the pump, instead lining their pockets with one hand while sitting on the other,” the Democrats said. “It’s time we get to the bottom of why oil companies are content to watch Americans suffer so that their shareholders and executives can reap enormous profits.”

The American Petroleum Institute, which represents many oil and natural gas companies, said in a statement, “There are many factors behind rising energy costs, from geopolitical volatility and supply chain constraints to policy uncertainty and mixed signals from Washington.”

Democrats have proposed a windfall profits tax for oil companies, while others want to suspend the federal gas tax for the rest of the year.

Republicans have largely blamed President Joe Biden’s policies for the rising energy prices unfolding under his administration.

The Biden administration has called on oil and natural gas companies to increase production, but many analysts say the Biden administration has taken action to stifle domestic energy production. 

Bloomberg noted that financing oil and gas production costs ten percent more than it did before Biden became president.

The increase in funding costs arose after the Biden administration successfully pressured financial institutions to reduce the international and domestic, public, and private financing of American energy production on private lands.

Credit Suisse, for example, has reduced lending to the industry and plans to cut lending to the industry by half between 2020 and 2030.

A poll released Tuesday found that a majority of Americans believe that Biden should step down if gas prices hit $8 per gallon.