Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) – U.S. oil executives will tell Congress Wednesday that they are boosting energy production and no company is setting a price for gasoline, according to a pre-published written testimony, as they defend lawmakers’ allegations of high fuel consumption. prices. Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy and Commerce for Oversight and Research are scheduled to hear the hearing scheduled for 10:30 p.m. the raw material for fuel, has been reduced. Gasoline prices in the United States hit a record high of $ 4.33 a gallon on March 11 and fell to 4.17 as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions on Moscow’s energy exports. dollars per gallon on Wednesday, according to the AAA motor group. drop of about 4%. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register International crude oil prices, meanwhile, have fallen sharply from more than $ 139 a barrel in early March to about $ 107 a barrel on Tuesday, down 23 percent, and futures are down about 15 percent. %. (GRAPHIC: Retail-wholesale gap) “These companies are making record profits and we urge them to do more to curb those gas prices now,” said Diana Deget, a Democratic spokeswoman and chairwoman of the subcommittee on Twitter, where executives from Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Chevron (XOM.N), BP America (BP.L), Shell USA, Devon Energy Corp (DVN.N) and Pioneer (PXD.N). “We want to know what is causing these record prices and what needs to be done to reduce them immediately,” he said. Many Democrats have complained that oil companies have made record profits while consumers are facing high prices. Oil companies will say that labor and supply shortages are hampering the rapid return of oil production to pre-pandemic levels and that prices are being set in the international market. Chevron CEO Mike Wirth will say that fuel prices are determined by market dynamics that companies have minimal control over. “Changes in the price of crude oil do not always lead to immediate changes in the pump,” Wirth said. “And while the price of crude oil may fall faster, it often takes longer for competition between retail outlets to lower pump prices again.” Last week, Democratic President Joe Biden urged oil companies to boost production and serve American households instead of investors, as he announced a record release of oil from strategic reserves. read more Chevron plans to boost capital spending by 50 percent this year, with about half going to increase oil and gas production and the other half to renewable, low-carbon fuels, Wirth said. with the objectives previously announced. Exxon, the leading U.S. oil company, said Monday that its first-quarter results could surpass a seven-year quarterly record. The preview sent a message about what awaits other companies’ profits from oil after the Russian invasion raised energy prices. read more “No single company determines the price of oil or gasoline,” said Darren Woods, president and CEO of Exxon, according to the testimony. “The market determines the price based on the available supply and the demand for that supply.” Gretchen Watkins, president of Shell USA, will say that her company neither controls nor owns the 13,000 gas stations that carry its brand. “Each of these independent companies is responsible for setting the local retail price of gasoline.” Scott Sheffield, CEO of Pioneer, the leading producer in the Permian Basin, says oil companies could not open the taps quickly due to staff and supply shortages and the decommissioning of many vessels and fleets when hydraulics were low by 2020. . Retail gasoline prices exceed wholesale costs due to refining, transportation, marketing and taxes, and the gap between the two tends to fluctuate – with retail prices often falling more slowly. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register References by Timothy Gardner, David Shepardson in Washington, Liz Hampton in Denver and Sabrina Valle in Houston. curated by Richard Pullin and Jonathan Oatis Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
