Just because at one point in time the U.S. oil companies were not doing well, does not now mean they haven’t figured out they can get away with these unjustified price hikes. People in this country are highly dependent upon transportation in these times, whereas 30 years ago people didn’t need to travel nearly as much just to make a living. Families use to live closer to each other than they do today. Neighborhood markets were much different. Trying to compare the past with the present is apples and oranges.
You have clearly fallen for the fallacy of "just price" theory, combined with some leftist conspiracy drivel. If the oil were not more valuable to the buyer than the money paid for it, the buyer would just keep his money and go without the oil. Since the oil *is* more valuable than the money (to the buyer), he buys, and both parties win.
Oil commpanies aren't "getting away" with anything. They're selling a product for the price the market will bear. They aren't some kind of monolithic "big oil" group - the global oil market is huge and has lots of players. The price of oil is where it is because that's what it's worth to people at the moment.
Read this article by Thomas Sowell for more discussion of pricing in markets. It's well-written and insightful, as Sowell always is.