price gouging should be a temporary phenomenon as new players see money to be mad and jump into the business. Problem is, this industry has become monopolistic. Barriers to entry in order to compete with the Exxons and Shells are really really high. So there's a monopolistic aspect that could be argued. when all the product's spoken for with sales contracts, it's hard to negotiate for a better deal. the only other defense is jacking up interes rates (reducing money supply) and killing the economy and therefore demand. That was the solution in 72.
Maybe the US auto industry is monopolistic. 2 1/2 major suppliers who completely control how many automobiles they offer to the market.
The US oil industry has literally thousands of producers, all competing with each to get every drop of oil they can into the market as fast as they can.
Your conclusion could hardly be more wrong.