WASHINGTON -- The current round of high gasoline pricestouching $3 a gallon in many areashas prompted U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) to send a letter to the CEOs of seven major oil companies demanding answers.
Consumers in some parts of the country face the prospect of $4 per gallon for gasoline this summer, said Kucinich, who is the chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee on the Oversight & Government Reform Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Department of Energy. As we approach this year's peak driving season, my subcommittee [image-nocss] endeavors to know how the actions of the major oil companies play a role in raising the price of gasoline.
He added, We seek to learn how the realities of decreasing refinery capacity, decreasing gasoline inventories, rising oil company profitability and increasing market concentration in the oil industry may be the root cause of new record-high gasoline prices. Gasoline prices are stealing away the little discretionary income available to many Americans in this distressed economy. The federal government must act now to resolve these high prices. Congress can no longer sit on the sidelines and watch as escalating prices continue to take a heavy economic toll on consumers and risk further harming our economy.
Previously, Kucinich introduced the Gas Price Spike Act, which would institute a windfall profit tax on gasoline, diesel, crude oil and home heating oil. He claimed that the bill would not increase the cost of gasoline because the proposal does not tax the price of gasolineit only taxes excessive profits of refineries and distributors. Any attempt to increase prices to recover the lost revenue in taxes is simply taxed at 100% making the price increase worthless, he said.
The letter was sent BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Tesoro and Valero. Concerning the current pricing and supply situation, he asked:
1. What is your strategic plan to raise the supply of gasoline for the onset of the peak driving season, which is only weeks away?
2. What steps are you planning to take, and when do you plan to take them, to bring back online refining capacity that you have removed from production? When do you plan to have attained maximum refining capacity?
3. What steps are you planning to take, and when do you plan to take them, to find supply other than your own production to bring your inventory to the national average of up to 30 days supply?
4. What steps are you planning to take, and when do you plan to take them, to import either the precursors for CARB gasoline or the identical product, from outside of the state?
5. What are you projecting your refinery margins to be during peak driving season?
Concerning hot gasoline, he asked:
1. What, if any, objections does your company have to the certification and use of temperature adjusted pumps at gas stations in the United States?
2. What steps have you taken in the absence of temperature adjusted pumps to ensure consumers are not paying for units of energy they aren't receiving?
3. Would you object to a federal law phasing in temperature-compensated gasoline sales in the United States?
Concerning alternative fuels, he asked:
1. What requirements do you place on your dealers (such as requiring they carry all grades of your branded gasoline, and restricting them from advertising products not produced by your refineries on roadside signage) that practically affect the ability of dealers to store, dispense and advertise E85?
2. What do you estimate the costs to be to your dealers to make E85 available, with your current requirements referenced above?
3. What changes in the physical plant of your dealers would be required for your dealers to carry E85?
4. Would you be willing to allow stations an exemption to rules requiring that they carry all three grades of branded gasoline, so they could utilize their midgrade fuel tanks for E85 or other renewable fuels?
5. What steps are you taking or do you intend to take to speed up the deployment of E85?
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