This testimony is nothing more than a political charade -- in which 535 of the most useless, unproductive people on the face of the earth actually have the b@lls to question the "profits" of an industry that is among the most efficient in the history of mankind.
Exxon/Mobil posted earnings of $40.6 billion on revenues of $404 billion in 2007 -- a return of about 10%. This was the largest annual profit in the history of capitalism, in a year when commodity prices were at historic highs . . . and this kind of profit generated all kinds of nonsensical calls from elected officials and political candidates here in the U.S. for massive taxes on these "obscene profits." You've got people and politicians in this country complaining about profits that represent a 10% return on investment in the best year of the industry's history. And these same people and politicians are complaining about "price gouging" in a retail industry where profit margins are razor-thin, and where the typical retail operation in many parts of this country is owned by a recent immigrant with a small staff working long hours at near-minimum wages.
You might want to do some research and see which industries in this country are actually the MOST profitable.
I humbly stand corrected. I was under the impression that demand had been rising at or about historical averages and there was price gouging going on. It was not my intent to ruffle so many feathers with my rant. I fully understand how the costs of taxes and government regulation is passed on to the consumer and I deplore the fact that the government taxes fuel at such a ridiculous rate. I too, would find it a bad investment to only make about 10% return. So the answer is, we must find something cheaper to run our cars on, or pay the piper and like it, or do without.