So, if we have all his oil, gasoline and heating distillates, why are our prices so high? Of course big oil couldn't possibly be gouging us could they? Just curious.
Your prices are high because you are willing to pay them.
Many are "forced" to pay because they purchase vehicles that require a lot of gas, and live far from where they work.
So while consumer "choice" exists, it is very indirect, and hard to correct over the short term.
Some will argue that since they "need" gas, companies should be forced to sell it at a "fair" price, not at the highest price the consumer is willing to pay.
If I have a yard sale, and I have a bicycle I picked up from someone's trash and spent 2 bucks on new inner tubes, I might sell it for thirty bucks. The "regulatory pricing" people might argue that I should have to sell that bike to the first person who shows up with three bucks, that I have no right to sell it for such a HIGH price, to make such a "windfall profit".
But most would argue that since the bike is NOT "necessary" it's OK for me to sell for what the market will bear.
MY opinion is that whenever we try to define parts of the market as "necessary", and then try to use government to "control" the prices, we harm the economy and make things worse, not better, for consumers.
If the gas station down the street was forced to sell gas for a buck a gallon, they wouldn't have any gas for you when you showed up.
Do you wear your underwear on the outsidde like you do with your basic lack of knowledge in market economics?