It’s a cryin’ shame that energy prices are so high, but it’s totally not Big Oil’s fault, top execs at the five largest oil companies told a Senate panel Wednesday. Big guns from BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon, and Shell — almost all the same rich white guys that gathered at a similar hearing last month — said the record price of oil is a supply-and-demand problem. It’s Congress who should initiate the fix, they said, by letting Big Oil stick its drills in more U.S. land and offshore areas, resisting “punitive” taxes on oil companies’ windfall profits, and avoiding policies too favorable to clean energy. “We support incentives for alternatives, but taking one form of energy to encourage production of another will reduce the ability to keep up with growing U.S. energy demand,” said Robert Malone of BP. “This nation should be encouraging production of all forms of energy, especially oil and gas.” Emphasis ours. Because really, wow.
