“Unpatriotic and unconscionable” profiteering as billion dollar revenues are siphoned overwhelmingly to executives and shareholders
Amid rampant price gouging of American drivers during Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and failure to meet surging post-pandemic demand, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, today sent urgent inquiries to heads of the 11 oil and gas companies with revenues over one billion dollars demanding answers on their executive profiteering, corporate stock buybacks, and enjoyment of U.S. tax benefits.
“While it is bad enough American drivers are facing record high gas prices as Vladimir Putin conducts an illegal invasion of Ukraine, it is unpatriotic and unconscionable for any corporation to use the ongoing conflict as cover to gouge drivers even more. Consequently, as Chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, I write to inquire whether [your company] is using federal tax benefits and manipulating our tax laws to reward shareholders with large dividends and stock buybacks, while pocketing record profits and simultaneously jacking up gas prices for American drivers,” Chairman Pascrell writes separately to 11 oil executives.
At a time of record profits for the oil and gas industry, Pascrell believes American taxpayers are entitled to know how much money these massive companies receive under special oil and gas provisions of the tax code as well as the tax cuts and other corporate-friendly changes made by the Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Chairman Pascrell’s inquiries were sent to Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden, British Petroleum CEO Bernard Looney, Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods, Equinor CEO Anders Opedal, Enbridge CEO Al Monaco, Chevon CEO Michael Wirth, Marathon Petroleum CEO Michael Hennigan, ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance, Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield, Devon Energy CEO Rick Muncrief, and APA CEO John Christmann.
In the first three quarters of 2021, the 24 top oil and gas companies around the world made a combined $174 billion in net income. Since that time, average retail gasoline prices have steadily risen from around $2 per gallon in December 2020 to approximately $4.10 per gallon in March 2022. Read the full story here.
Original source can be found here.
