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US senators demand oil execs re-testify, under oath Nov 16 6:44 PM US/Eastern Email this story Senate Democrats demanded that oil company executives who testified last week about skyrocketing energy prices reappear before lawmakers and testify under oath, after news reports raised questions about the truthfulness of their testimony. Leading oil company executives long have denied taking part in a secretive energy task force run in 2001 by Vice President Dick Cheney, but White House records obtained by The Washington Post refuted that, according to the daily's editions on Wednesday. The ad hoc group was tasked with helping develop a...

Windfalls and blowhards When supply drops and demand stays constant, prices rise. This is obvious to all thinking people -- if not to members of Congress. Those Senate hearings on gas prices illustrated for all to see just how tenuous a grasp these inside-the-Beltway types have on the science of economics. Consider this exchange between U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and Exxon-Mobil CEO Lee Raymond. Domenici had importuned the assembled oil executives to advise him how to answer the typical constituent who asks, "How is the price of oil set?"... "The price is set on the world market by willing...

WASHINGTON - The chiefs of five major oil companies defended the industry's huge profits Wednesday at a Senate hearing where lawmakers said they should explain prices and assure people they're not being gouged. There is a "growing suspicion that oil companies are taking unfair advantage," Sen. Pete Domenici (news, bio, voting record), R-N.M., said as the hearing opened in a packed Senate committee room. "The oil companies owe the country an explanation," he said. Lee Raymond, chairman of Exxon Mobil Corp., said he recognizes that high gasoline prices "have put a strain on Americans' household budgets" but he defended his...