Washington - The US Senate took major oil companies to task Wednesday over record profits taken in over the past year, as the price of crude oil topped 130 dollars per barrel for the first time. Executives from five of the world's top energy firms defended surging petrol prices in the United States that have contributed to an economic slowdown and prompted allegations of price fixing from some US lawmakers.
Democratic Party leaders have been pressing for a "windfall profits tax" on energy companies to help bring down the price of petrol and boost investment in renewable energy sources.
"Is there anybody here that has any concerns about what you are doing to this country, with the prices that you are charging and the profits that you are taking?" Democratic Senator Dick Durbin asked in a hearing of the Judiciary Committee.
Company executives said all profits were being fed back into production upgrades, technology and investments in renewables, and blamed the high prices on the surging cost of crude and rising demand for energy around the world.
Crude oil reached a record 132 dollars per barrel in trading in New York on Wednesday, after the Energy Department said US oil stockpiles dropped by the most in four months.
Stephen Simon, director and senior vice president of Exxon Mobil Corp, warned against "undercutting" the competitiveness of US oil companies because of high petrol prices that were beyond their control.
Exxon, the largest US oil company, earlier this month reported its highest first-quarter earnings figure ever at 10.9 billion dollars.
