U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, joined a majority of the House Thursday to pass a measure aimed at lowering inflated gas prices.
The legislation is designed to do that by targeting oil companies that are exploiting families for profit, according to a news release from Rep. Carbajal’s office.
“At a time when Central Coast residents and people across the country are feeling the pinch at the gas pump, I’m working in Congress to bring down costs,” Rep. Carbajal said in the news release. “What’s infuriating is that, while California families bear the brunt of these costs, gas and oil companies are making record profits and lining the pockets of their shareholders.
“Rather than lowering gas prices when oil prices drop, oil companies are taking in record profits and then using those profits to inflate their stock price instead of utilizing unused leases to increase supply or pass lower prices onto their customers,” Rep. Carbajal said. “Gas and oil companies should be held accountable and should not be making the situation worse by gouging Americans at the pump – and that’s what we are doing with this bill.”
The seven largest oil companies have announced billions of dollars in stock buybacks.
Despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the disruption of the global oil market, first quarter 2022 profits for oil companies topped $35 billion. Shell was at $9.1 billion, Chevron was at $6.3 billion, BP was at $6.2 billion, and ExxonMobil at $5.4 billion, according to news sources.
The Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act would enable President Joe Biden to issue an Energy Emergency Declaration, making it unlawful to increase gas and home energy prices in what lawmakers describe as an exploitative or excessive way.
The measure now advances to the Senate for further consideration.
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
