Why is the new Congress punishing oil companies and discouraging exploration with the price of gas so high?

Question

Read this and see if you think what Congress is doing is a little silly.

"In response, Hofmeister lauded the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which was supported by U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, and signed by President George W. Bush.
"It was a fairly useful piece of legislation," he said, adding criticism to recent bills in the U.S. House and Senate, which he says give "no new access to oil and gas" supplies on United States soil and make it difficult to help build new refineries.
Reached in Washington, D.C., Friday afternoon, Brady agreed, admonishing "this new Congress" for "punishing our oil companies and discouraging more exploration."
Brady believes federal lawmakers should grant more access to resources in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge and the Gulf of Mexico, in addition to the shale oil reserves.
Brady believes Americans can pay as much as $1 less per gallon of gas if the nation "took more responsibility for our own energy needs."

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18985070&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=532215&rfi=6

Links to answers are always welcomed.

Answer 1

The fringe left and their wacko lap dogs in the environmetalist movement. Like the Sierra Club.

The government already has about a 50 cent tax per gallon of gasoline. Higher in gasoline mixed with ethanol. Aother reason for our high gas prices, aside from $96/barrel, is supply and demand. Since we have a very limited ability to refine it, the demand is exceeding the supply. All because environmentalists block them from building new refineries. Thanks environmentalists...

Answer 2

I gained an e mail from a Coke a Cola retired govt. He reported that to boycott cellular and Exxon, they're both best. He reported to deliver the e-mail to 10 human beings and that in the journey that they forwarded to 10 human beings that quickly 3 hundred million would have it. Boy, that did not take lengthy except now it is Chevron. i'm in pick of the boycott. the idea is in the journey that they promote no gas they might might want to decrease expenditures and something else would might want to stay with. quicker or later boycotts would do not have any impression he claimed

Answer 3

It is a liberal congress. The same type that instigated the Windfall Profit tax of the eighties and knowingly stopped US production in its tracks when doing so.

Liberals hate big oil and making life miserable for these companies has always been a regular part of their agenda.

Like a rallying cry.

Answer 4

Americans would pay a buck a gallon less if both the Oil Mafia and the auto industry would stop preventing of a major rise in the CAFE standards and tax breaks for hybrid cars. Hybrids could even run on alternate fuels at some point....there are all kinds of 21st century ways to keep the wheels on the road beside burning more and more oil, creating more and more pollution and moving heavy industry into the last wild places. The shills and the stooges for the oil industry will never stop telling you that it's their way or NO highway....don't believe them...all they want is to wring the last dollar out of what's really a 19th century technology...they think the public is just a flock of sheep to be sheared and if you support these bums...you're one of the flock!

Answer 5

Are you under the impression the oil industry is run by altruists, who sweat and grunt all day trying to find ways to provide you with cheaper gas?

Let me introduce you to reality: The oil companies are glad prices are high, and would like them to be higher.

They have refineries in mothballs, that they will not put back in production, let along build new ones. Not when demand is being met as it is. That would only lower the price, at great expense to them. They're not alruists, and they're not stupid.

http://energycommerce.house.gov/legviews/109lvhr1640-oilgas.shtml

And there aren't enough untapped reserves in the US to make even a dent in demand, especially considering how long it would take to develop any of them, and how much demand is going to rise in the meantime.

The oil industry wants to develop all available reserves, not because they expect it to make the slightest difference in the cost of gas, but because they fully expect to get a very high price for it. A price that will only get higher as time goes on, if they have anything to say about it, which they do.

Reducing demand via conservation would certainly bring the cost of gas down. But I guarantee you that is one type of "useful legislation" no oil industry representative, in or out of Washington, will ever put his precious stamp of approval on.

Answer 6

The three and a quarter dollar a gallon gasoline was from the bush administration giving free reign to the gas companies. It should be noted that 90% of the funding for the terrorists attacking our country was from oil revenues.
The only way out of this mess W got us in to is to develpe alternative energy systems. This would also benifit our environment by stoping greenhouse gas.

Answer 7

It seems to me that anything endorsed by Bush must be bad. Drilling for oil in ANWAR will not bring gas prices down. In reality we still have some of the lowest gas prices in the world. Oil companies, however, have been posting record profits during this period of rising prices.

Answer 8

Oil companies profits are breaking records EVERY quarter... Their CEOs are making THOUSANDS of times as much as their average employee (with golden parachutes in the HUNDREDS of MILLIONS)... and you're blaming CONGRESS for the high prices??

Just amazing...