chair will announce the committee will stand in recess for 10 minutes and we are going to return because we have many many more people to question and votes on the floor so the committee is in recess for 10 minutes.ma [inaudible conversations] >> they are meeting will come to order in the chair recognizes

the distinguished chairman of the energy subcommittee mr. rusch for five minutes. >> think you madam chair for this standing hearing. madam chair the overall -- in the u.s. energy companies are the greatest profits ever recorded in the history of mankind on the human species. let me be clear, these profits are outrageous. madam chair exxonmobil in 2021, $23 billion in profits.

chevron 2021 profits came in at team $.6 billion. and last but not least shell, shell companies profits, $19.3 million. these are outrageous prices. in the weeks following the russian invasion of ukraine many russian oil and gas companies distance themselves from russia including bp and exxon. the same week that the company announced they were taking a step back from russia, your

company was buying to keep russian crude oil.ss 700,000 barrels of russian crude oil for $30 million. barrel under the international oil price. you managed to convert that oil into the normal prices. that represents over $20 million in profits. ilthese profits are nothing shot of war profits. and in the name of innocent

ukrainian citizens it seems to me like it is an insincere apology. are they sorry are they sorry they got caught? mr. watkins some truth now when was the decision made to purchase that oil? >> congressman i'm not sure when that decision was made that i can tell you that. >> you're not sure who was not sure of who the person cliques >> our ceo came out and said he had approved that and he had made a mistake and he has

apologized for that. i can tell you the situation in europe it is at the time such that. >> did the chairman of the board also approved the purchase? sara: i'm not aware of how the approval works to be honest. typically do they purchase your crude? >> i'm sorry i don't understand the question. prior to that did they purchase your crude oil? >> yes. -year-olds is a type of crude rerun at our european refineries and at the time that decision to made we are attempting keep refineries running for customers. e according to s&p russian crude oil was supposed to -- in march

of 2010. peschel processed any of that oil from any of the refinery's? >> yes sir i believe we have so we can supply diesel and gasoline for customers in europe. at this point i knott purchases of crude and purchase of lng from russia. we are doing none of that this time. >> madam chair i'm running out of time. i wantedch to ask the gentleman. >> i thank the gentleman in the chair recognizes mr. scalise for five minutes. >> thank you madam chair for holding this hearing. at some questions for witnesses but first before we talk about why we are here it's important

to go back and look at how we got here. americans are furious that gas prices are so high. they also know president biden walked dan day one with an agenda to kill american energy. don't take my word for it. let's go back to it candidate joe biden. when joe biden was a candidate for president of the united states he was very clear what he wanted to do to shut down american energy production as a candidate and here you seem see in the left ironically of bernie sanders. quote more no more drilling on federal lands no more drilling including offshore. no ability for the oil industry to continue to drill period. that was joe biden the candidate and he wanted to kill american energy. i wish itit ended there. that's just where it got started. he then went on and issued a barrage of mountains of red tape

from everyone of his federal agencies to make it harder to drill in america. not other countries by the way, justin america. look at all the o agencies that president biden used to go after american energy. the department of energy, the department of federal energy regulatory company that seekers in exchange come to, the council on environmental quality the department of state the environmental protection agency's department of justice the department of interior all of these federal agencies putting mountains of red tape on every making -- every american driller. keystone day one coming from the state department. killed the keystone pipeline. he turned around and gave head to vladimir putin and glick greenlighted nord stream so he makes american energy less secure.ur said it's okay for russia to

produce oil and set it to europe and get them addicted to russian oil helping fuel by the way putin's war against ukraine. couldn't before the invasion was getting over $700 million a day selling oill to america and to europe as president biden issued this assault on american energy. now go back to a biden said. he didn't say he was going to do it no more drilling including offshore so what happens when you kill american energy through these red tape policies? the price goes up. just look at it. it didn't start with russia invadingfs ukraine. the price was going up from day one when he carried out the assault on american energy. if you want to solve the problem reinvent the wheel. get rid of this entire assault on every federal agency i just

mentioned producing oil in america prevented these rules and regulations by the way apply to russian oil. none of them apply to iranian oil and none of them apply to venezuela yet that to present biden is begging to produce more oil. dictators to energy and turn to america whereby the way is greater than anywhere in the world could you get energy from russia they have are much higher carbon footprint and i'd love to see the carbon footprint and maybe we can have a hearing on that. the carbon footprint of joe biden's anti-american policy. oorepublicans have filed more tn 60 billsls by the way, 60 billso reverse this barrage and assault on american energy by president biden. ranking member kathy mcmorris rodgers head had a bill and thea are built to do all kinds of things to allow us to produce ourer resources and by the wayro cleaner than anybody else in the world. that's where this should be

going. i've got some questions for witnesses and they'll start with mr. lawler. my question is this whole mountain of red tape by president obama make it harder for you to produce energy in america yes or no? mr. lawler. >> in general regulations from the industry are helpful and regulations that help the energy transition are helpful. >> so are the supportive of industry? you have to comply with them is one of the reasons you can producese not talk to people who are produced in all parts of the country and they tell me these regulations, mr. wirth was chevron did these make it harder to produce oil in america? >> yes they do. yes they do congressmen.

>> mr. sheffield? >> yes they do sir. >> mr. muncrief. >> yes, they do. >> congressman some regulations are necessary for business. they have got outstanding permits to approve to enable us to bring more production on line. stop the assault on americandi energy. >> the gentleman's time has expired. >> i'm now pleased to introduce the secretary of our -- committee ms. eshoo for five minutes. >> thank you for holding this hearing today in expanding the legislativebc courtesy to me to participate. in response to questions on the invasion of ukraine, over 50 american companies have pulled out of russia including bp

america exxonmobil and shell usa. so i salute you for that. those that haven't better with us today do you plan to do so? no response. >> okay. one policy that congress is considering to address the soaringok gas prices is suspendg the federal gas tax, a tax holiday for a-team .4 cents per gallon and there's a serious debate over whether gas prices would actually fall by this

amount of the not-too-distant future. my question is if your company can pull out of russia can you also commit counting on the full savings of the gas tax holiday to consumers so we'll go to the panel and it's a yes or no answer. are you refusing to say anything? it's a yes or no answer. soon congresswoman i will start. i was waiting to see if somebody was going to go through the lists. we can certainly discontinue the collection of vat tax. prices move each and every day in both directions so i can guarantee you that prices will go up or will go down. they are factors that influence prices. we collect attacks on behalf of

government and submitted to the government predict that tax were suspended we would no longer pass it on. >> so would go to the government but it's the consumers that are buying the gas to fill their tank. would they be the beneficiaries of that? >> i appreciator question congresswoman. the consumers would no longer pay that tax. we no longer collect vat tax. the price of gas link could go down or could go in the other direction depending on factors each and every day. >> the other gentleman, gentlewoman? >> congresswoman what i would share it is a very complex market that might precipitate increased demand and could increase prices and i will tell

you it's a very complex market-based decision. >> can you bring more clarity to this than just saying everything is so complex? i know that this is not pleasant but the american people are really not with you. they are angry, they are angry and i think every american company owes something to america and the american people. there is pain at- the pump and really what underlines my question is what can you do to help alleviate that? if you don't plan to do anything for help to do something i think that becomes absolutely apparent. i think it would just add

another layer of the deep anger and resentment of the american people. let me go through the rest of the individuals that are testifying today on my original question. >> congress summoned this is darren woods with exxonmobil. i would tell you the function of the supply and demand. the way to ultimately solve this problem is to increase the amount of supply available to american consumers. >> you're essentially saying no because if there were to be a tax holiday the consumer at the pump would not get the benefit? >> what i'm saying is the text tax holiday doesn't change the amount of supply.

what you are seeing is nobody knows exactly how that supply and demand balance is struck but what will ultimately determine supply and demand is what influencess supply. >> the time of the gentlelady has expired. the chair now recognizes mr. latta for five minutes. >> i thank the chair for allowing me to join today's hearing and i thank the witnesses were testifying at today's hearing. today we are seeing the blame game played with maximum effort hired democratic colleagues. we have heard the other side of the aisle point their fingers in every direction because of the rise in energy prices. with the -- from day one of his ministers andve president biden institute policies that restrict the ability to produce oil and natural gas united states and canceled the keystone exxon

pipeline issued a moratorium on ioil and gas exploration on federal lands using regulatory power bogged down the committee process for energy infrastructure projects and pushed his financial regulators in the fossil fuel industry. now his drinking convince the american people that american energy policy is not contributing to the rising gas prices and the war criminal putin. i'm glad we are holding this hearing today so we can set the record straight as to why they are hurting when they go to phillip their car at the pump. i want to thank you for your service to our nation. in light of the crimes discovered over the in ukraine perpetrated by the russian army many are catching up with united states and recognize the need to

end the deportation -- importation of russian oil and gas. general what will be the result of this decision by the western european countries and russian imports and how will that impact gas prices here? >> congressman to result in the near term would be to constrain the supply even further. i think the key is we have to start racing out to catch up to be able to displace russian oil and gas in the market as well as its to pursue solid supply chains for the transition to renewables. i think what's important about what europe is doing is to follow up on infrastructure investment. so much of that infrastructure was designed to keep russia and russia's coercive -- some big

investments need to be made in infrastructure on both sides of atlantic as well as europe and it's really important to recognize that we need a rational energy security and climate emissions. they made a leap away from nuclear and a leap to support renewables without investing in hydrocarbon infrastructure and as a result they've been well off off a cliff to keep the lights on so it's important for us to recognize as we pursue reductionson in carbon would hae a sensible approach to energy security. thank you. mr. wood there've been efforts to check on pipelines across the fivery including wind which is ohio and michigan. last year we saw how gas prices lead to the shutdown of the colonial pipeline. and they price advocates that got their ways and more

operations were shut down. >> thank you for the question congressman. infrastructure plays an incredibly important role with respect to energy supplies and keeping reliable and affordable energy available for the american people around the nation. r having the pipelines available is critical and new resources of natural gas are developed in a production needs to be connected to the market to move the pipelines which are the most efficient most environmentally sound of the safest among the transportation for stopping those lines of natural gas to consumers or crude into refineries and refiners into demand centers disrupts the balance of the supply and demand and increase those prices and reduces securityng for people ad accessing reliable affordable energy.

>> mr. lawler in my last 30 seconds what role can united states play to responsibly produce oil and gas for countries like russia? >> thank you for the question. i think the u.s. is on track to be a leader. and as i mentioned earlier we are spending two or $3 billion this year and we will be spending $4 million in the 2020 to -- 2025 time rain. it's important we get near-term supply up and importantly follow through on clean energy environment that we want to live in the future. >> the chair recognizes the chair from the select committee and climate change, some in cast her for five minutes. >> thank you chair did get for calling this hearing on

price-gouging. it's truly operational leasing since the attack on ukraine a rise in only 75% or 75 cents and i feel for the small business owners and parents try to get their kids to school every day. they have supported the ban on russian oil imports so they are doing their paper traffic duty and they are willing to help the ukrainian people. now it's time for the big oil corporations to do the same a is time for the big oil companies to -- prices rather than to pad your bottom line. time line. kind and the billions of dollars in american taxpayer subsidies that are going to support your businesses. it's time to stop your decades long objection of the transition to clean energy which would provide lower cost to consumers and the cars and trucks we drive in the way we heater holmes and

cool our homes. it's upsetting to see this profiteering at the time that the ukrainian people and freedom are under attack and it's to watch year of two years you unleash the grand oil party to block action to get true energy security. and what does that look like? america is our new number one and the number oneo reducer of oil and gas. and that insulated us from volatility and price hike. i want to remind everyone it was just a few years ago that the congress and big oil companies allow the export of petroleum products from the united states something that many of us opposed atat the time. u.s. exports would allow us to become even more independent. has that happened? no. in more than half a million barrels of petroleum exports

leave the united states for china every day. going down the line i want to ask each ceo how much of your products produced in the united states does each of your company's w export to china largely being aligned with putin? mr. lawler?? >> thank you congresswoman. they can't speak to the exact volume. you may know the world market -- >> just a quick number is all we need. mr. wirth. >> congresswoman that's not a number that i have. i would be happy to follow up with your staff. >> mr. muncrief? >> we export about 10% of our production predominately to china.

>> i don't think hardly any to china. >> all right, mr. woods? >> i'm not aware of the number. i think it's a very small one and we can follow up with you. >> mr. sheffield? >> a very small number. >> i don't have the number. i can follow up with you on that. >> this is very important to know because we are looking for a solution. one of the solutions may be to ban the export of our petroleum products to countries that are in aligned influence in the world. that's not the real answer. the real answer of course is breaking this dependence and addiction on oil and gas. renewable energies right now is the cheapest form of energy and it's getting cheaper every year. we have got to accelerate the transition to clean energy. more stable and more affordable here at home. the house is passed which

solution that's being blocked largely by lobbyists aligned with fossil fuel companies that would lower the cost of your gas bill and lower your ap bill. it will lower the cost of electric vehicles and would divide -- this is the time with. to work for americans and not doubled down on the same old fact that we are addicted to oil and they can't get off it. this is the time especially because the top scientists early this week said that we are facing a future catastrophe and much higher cost than we are paying right now. our time is urgently of a moral obligation toward kids and future generations to give them a livable planet and a healthy economy where everyone can thrive. i yelled back my time. >> the chair recognizes

mr. guthrie for five minutes. >> thank you madamve chair. i have a couple questions. i've known you for 39 years since this summer and we first met at west point. i know you are an academic and a straight shooter. your analysis of what you say is very and some of the things are are sobering. your sobering. s your testimony argued energy savings plan that is not a false choice but to just a kid including american independence including fossil fuels is not a false choice. in your book when it first came out you talk about climate change and addressing climatece change. you absolutely not dismisses so would you expand the question that energy security in saving the planet is a false choice? >> thank you carson and guthrie

and thank you for your service and the fond memories from west point. i believe it's a false choice. congressman guthrie we are pursuingr on solutions and we can't afford to preserve them on solutions anymore. we can have an energy transition and all of a sudden from fossil fuels to renewables without a bridge in place and of course this is where the u.s. can play such an important role by providing the bridge associate with natural gas and coal in particular. if we want to save the planet we have to get off of coal energy generation but it was the largest production oft co2 emissions. the opportunity presented by natural gas. it's extremely important to recognize whatever exclusive solution we come upit with iic 2

emissions and climate change it has to be applicable in developing economies. they are going to compromise economic growth for some exclusive solution that isn't consistent with what the market will bear so affordable renewable yes but a big part of it is relatively inexpensive natural gas which we can get to with increased p production and exports and its emerging capabilities like next-generation nuclear which can be combined with hydrogen to meet so much of this demand. it's a combination congressman and what's sad about it is we continue to pursue these nonsolution to get the opposite effect of what we desire. for example colin experts going up and co2 emissions t going up over pursuit of these

non-solutions. >> i want to ask you another question. you said inn renewables will dependent on supply chains and we left three thrilling -- $3 trillion worth of minerals in the hands of the taliban and their new friends the chinese. could you comment on that? of the competitions with china occurred in places outside of the end of pacific region and this point you are talking about how important south asia is prince important for us to recognize the importance of resilient supply chains especially those associated with renewable energy and energy transition. the electric car and battery manufacturing the whole upstream supply associate with another critical minerals and separation of work that has stalled the

resilient in the way to get there is with on cherny near shoring and it has to be a major focus of this committee. >> in your written statement you argue opec is in expanding their production with president biden. would you comment on that and what's going on in yemen? could you comment on that as well? >> how with characterize it as a tall as he that has alienated key partners in the gulf region and foremost among them is saudi arabia and the united andrew's. they are upset about is the nuclear deal that would essentially give autocratic dictatorships in there and cover for stealing their missile programs which are grave threat to them in the region and a grave threat to israel and their failure to take off the

designation of the houthis as a terrorist organization. we ask them for cooperation and they are not giving it to us because their anger at those in some cases rightfully so because of an unwise approach to the middle east and iran. spare thank you. my time has expired. >> the chair recognizes mr. sarbanes for five minutes. senate thank you very much madam chair and i think are her witnesses for being here today. let me just say a front i don't trust you. i don't mean that in the sense thate i question your personal integrity, i don't. i recognize your role. your role is to lead large for-profit corporations that are looking to maximize their return

to your shareholders. when i say i don't trust you i mean i don't trust you not to take advantage of this situation to try to meet that goal. i think there is clearly an opportunity to profit from this crisis that has occurred in ukraine from the disruption to the global supply chain and oil and gas and it's an opportunity that you are seizing on again. i understand why. you want to satisfy your shareholders and i won't speak to what it means for your executive compensation but that is your impulse. earlier we saw a pretty revealing chart that

congresswoman degette laid out where she said the price of crude oill has spiked and windy at invasion occurred in initially the disruption and predictably the price of at the gas pump one up as well. then she showed how the price of crude has come down but the prices at the pump have not come down. so i think what that reflects his disability to kind of manipulate situations. your industry can say well we expect that the crude oil price may go up so you can anticipate that t by charging more to the retailers and that if the price comes down you can say well it's coming down, crude is coming

down but it will take a few days before that can be passed along or maybe we can't pass it along yet the coast we think the price may go up again. you've got a lot of latitude to manipulate in take advantage of the situation in a way that will boost your profit. and sometimes it's legitimate tr use phrases like a variety of factors in the marketplace. prices move up and down every day. that's the industry understand that sometimes that can be a good way to cover up what is an effort or an opportunity to price gouge. the fact of the matter is that you are customers not just the generic consumer at the pump. these are your customers. these are your red-blooded patriotic american customers

many of whom when interviewed are saying we are willing to take a hit. we are willing to pay a little bit more to do is try to address this invasion so they are stepping up. if you realize savings don't you think it's the patriotic thing to do to pass that savings a long? let me start with you mr. lawler. if bp america is realizing the price of crude is going down so you are saving money on that and is not the patriotic thing to do to pass that savings on to your customers at the pump? >> howdo guzman as i've said before it's a competitive market and we sell our refined products into the competitive market and

we buyuy stocks for our refiners in the competitive market. >> mr. wirth i want to see if i can get a better answer for mu. the price of crude is going down and that represents a savings of tear operation does it not? >> yes, sir. spare the price of crude goes down that reduces the cost of inputs. >> it's a the patriotic thing to do when that happens, that has happened based on what color summit degette showed us earlier. is it the corporate responsible thing to do to pass those savings along to your customers at the pump? >> cumbersome and no single company >> i got it. my time is out. there's a lot of hocus-pocus language that you can drop here.

i think you need to pass savings along and we realize you have done that recently. your loyal devoted customer at thee pump. i yield h back. >> the gentleman's time has expired. mr. bilirakis you are recognized for five minutes. >> some of my democratic colleagues especially duringre this hearing blame american gas and oil companies for the high prices at the pump and it is from distant -- rhetoric from the president to deter or reduce domestic oil and gas. my republican colleagues to talk about the negative impacts that it's had domestically because of the president screen new deal policies. i want to highlight the biden administration.

and otherwise i think it's intervening with foreign fossil fuel projects and empowers our allies. i'm talking about the biden administration's recent reversal of the pipeline which would have delivered natural gas to greece israel and cypress to southeastern europe. the parts are most dependent on russia and i'll add the president approved of this project met with vice president. after establishment ofen u.s. support between our allies and energy dependent projects specifically with the pipeline the biden administration reverse course. why? contradicting u.s. policy is

outlined in the bill that aye led and was signed into law in 2019. we are seeing what happens with energy security and going back to 2006 the effect it's had on our own national security and that of our nato allies. thank you for your service general mcmaster and i've a question for you. your testimony talked about the long history of trying. to coere the extension of russia's influence. can you briefly describe the positive impact in any set to cement pipeline could have on reducing gas to eastern europe countries hopefully preventing the repeat of what's tragically

happening in ukraine. if you could comment on that. >> what you are highlighting is a tremendous opportunity for international investment in in infrastructure but to credit the structure giving russia course of power has to be circumventedl in a number of ways. eastern mediterranean is one tremendous possibility as well as southeastern europe such as cairo island in import terminal. import to recognize the infrastructure that rushes using is also infrastructure so for example in ukraine that's the area and which 90% of the energy of the structure potential in ukraine lies and that's not a coincidence that ukraine is designed to export energy and

not receive energy imports. the source of infrastructure investments arm metzl important and people are just going to take a long time. takes a much longer time if you never start so in every crisis we should look for in opportunity and one of the opportunities here's this renewed investment in energy infrastructure globally. >> let's talk about the pipeline from a national security perspective as well. from what i've been hearing my colleagues across the aisle and the president united states willfully ignore their actions not only affect current prices. heavily influences decision-making focusing on the future like investments for oil futures and oil price contracting which all affect current and future prices as well. mr. wirth i know chevron you

have a significant presence in the mediterranean but could you please describe the impact the administration's reversal on the pipeline has not only on other public and private investments in natural gas projects. specifically the pipeline which is currently at the stages seeking investments and the evaluating liability. >> congressman i appreciate you raising this. eastern mediterranean has tremendous gas resources that serve only local and regional markets. we are working on number of options to try to extend that gas to other markets in europe in particular. that pipeline is one alternative. complex costly alternative but a real alternative. we are looking at natural gas

and we welcome dialogue with others to get that gas to european countries. >> pajamas time has expired. the gentlelady recognizes chairman wells for five minutes. >> their two issues here. one is a debate about n long-tem energy and how in my idea we need to transition to renewables. there'sle another issue and that is the impact of the war in ukraine thehe bloodthirsty putin has inflicted on the people of ukraine and how that has caused such disruption for consumers everywhere from eastern europe to the united states. the question that all of us have is what can we do to support the peoplest of ukraine in their effort to survive and what can we do to help citizens come

everyday citizens who are living paycheck to paycheck to be able to pay the bills that have escalated particularly at the pump and for home heating oil? this is not debate about long-term policy. i know we have disagreements here between myself and my colleagues and perhaps some of you.l. we have to get to clean energy as quickly as we possibly can. here's what alarms me. on march 6, 2020 just before with the shutdown because of covid u.s. crude oil 13 million barrels per day. million barrels per day. on january 2022 it has declined to 11.4. what we have seen in that time his production has gone down, prices have gone up and what we

have seen particularly since february with the invasion as profits have exploded. the evidence has been raised in executive compensation is up and shareholder stocks buybacks are up $41 billion. so the question i have and i will start with mr. wirth in the boardrooms there are decisions about the allocation of the company putting into production to bring it up to pre-pandemic levels, stock buybacks and dividends. all of these have been increased. has there ever been any discussion about lowering the prices atpr the pump to help fos who are bearing the burden of the u.s. and european allies support for the people of ukraine?

>> we share that concern for america. >> i'm not asking about your concerns. i'll grant that is that there anything specifically that would lighten up on the stock buybacks and maybe lighten up on the dividendser or lower the pricest the pump. they will be less private but that might help the cause here. has there have been a discussion about that? >> congressman we have had lengthy discussions on capitol allocation. 2021 was the highest in the previous effort company. a capitol spending this year is up 60% versus what it was a year ago. half of that is american production. >> can you speak to my figures on the u.s. production how it's less than was during the pandemic? >> you know this is really pretty simple. you all have to make decisions

and you have your economic models and whatever you have but the bottom line you have a decision with the prophet with the profit do you put into stock buybacks to help shareholders of put it into -- it helps shareholders of put it into production and possibly under these extreme circumstances with a war and with people in ukraine you say you know y what maybe we will lighten up a little bit on the stock buybacks and lighten up a little bit on the dividends and maybe we will lighten up a little bit to help folks who are getting hammered with the prices of the time. is that in your discussion? >> congress marin vesting more capitol growth in production to return value to shareholders. >> it is a world market and i agree with that. the mighty oil companies don't have total control over prices. they do have control over how they allocate capitol between

increasing production between profits between stock buybacks and between dividends. i yield back. >> the chair recognizes mr. johnson for five minutes. >> thank you madam chair. first of all i want to thank our panel some of the biggest names in oil and gas are joining us today and thank you all for what you do to keep the lights on and the power of transportation industry and create thousands of consumer products and millions of jobs and quite literally to fuel modern life as we know it in america. what you produce is lifted going to people out of poverty around the world. many of you have a gap or testi. why don't you tell that story? i'm not going to name names. we have all seen the tv commercials from big oil filled with solar panels, green climate messaging about how you were diversifying your portfolio and how you are praising liberal

progressive values. what's been your return on investment with that effort? the you have taken the shellacking from the democrats. do they seem impressed by your effort to show your allegiance to the anti-fossil fuel agenda? do they give you any credit for your great overtures in your esd commitments or your carbon cutting plans? no, they do not. for heaven sakes they are blaming you for high gas prices, for inflation and for bad weather and all the worlds problems that they are failed policies are actually causing. your industry has a lot to be proud of and americans know it. just have to help us tell them. if you continue chasing these radical green progressive values, these moving goalposts over the real value that you bring to our country in the world than the environmental left and they esp productions

will crush you and the millions of americans that need your support. today i'm going to give you platform ladies and gentlemen. first mr. sheffield these are yes or no questions because i lot of them. mr. sheffield are you and your employees still part of the oil and gas that you produce knowing it goes into so many essential products and industries? >> yes we are. >> thank you very much. mr. muncrief of devin energy backup at right are you proud of the jobs you. in america's oil and gas fields? >> yes. okay thank you very much. that's a big yes. mr. woods exxonmobil are you proudfi one acre -- your company is one of the largest providers that lift billions of people out power globally? >> absolutely. >> mr. wirth from chevron are

you proud that jet fuel diesel and gasoline that you sell plays such a vital role in americans getting to their jobs, getting their jobs done taking care of their families and keeping our economy moving? >> i am absolutelyg proud. >> ms. watkins from shale are you proud of your company's investments that support clean abundant american liquefied natural gas and are you proud of the company and pennsylvania produces the raw material that goes in the literally thousands of products in america in everyday life? are you proud to gas that you produce that our european friends and allies need so much that they are literally dying for? are you proud that you produce that product? >> yes congressman, i am. >> thank you very much. mr. lawler from bp.

oil markets are going to be 3 million barrels a day shorter with rushing creek coming off the market the world needs that 3 million barrels or the russian market is going to collapse. would you be willing to help make up that deficit perhaps from american resources?li >> i can tell you congressmen we are doing that. >> i appreciate that. thank you very much. ladies and gentlemen these are a few commercials that you folks coulday t run. you have a good story to tell. use these ideas to tell the american people the truth about what you do so that they can quit being misled by the barrage of negative advertisement that you see coming for my democratic colleagues today. i'm going to yield back a whole 18 seconds of my time.

>> i thank theis gentleman. the chair recognizes mr. -- for five minutes. mr. cardis and here in the chair recognizes mr. tingle for five minutes. >> thank you madam chair and thanks for holding this hearing. americans and my constituents are really feeling it in the wallet. gasoline prices in michigan have doubled and tripled couple of years. i had theas uaw worker who tells me she couldn't visit the family because she can't afford anymore and the other worker agrees to visit her mother every sunday saysil she can't times like thii will underscore the ramping up

investment in manufacturing of clean energy. i'm going to say to my colleague mr. johnson, i am a cargo may come from an u industry that operates the internal combustion engine and yet climate change is real and we are coming together to work together. at oem the workers and the environmentalist try to get to the next generation that's what we are all talking about right now. we need to make this transformational shift to electrify the -- and our dependence on foreign energy sources while we are creating good paying american jobs and increasingpo the clean energy supply chamber the fact of the matter is this is an economic and national security issue. i've heard each of you point to an thank you tour this. i've heard each of you pointed

complex commodity market. the way you talk about your business it's as if you have no control over anything and helping these participants in the globalom market read your price.n affects the barrel. is it sheer that your product price is aimed at the customer for the cost of axle -- the price of oil is high and the price of gas at the pump is high correct? i will quickly go down the line just yes or no. mr. lawler? >> yes. >> just a yes or no please. mr. wirth? >> yes. >> mr. muncrief?

>> yes. >> mr. woods? >> yes. >> mr. sheffield? >> yes. >> ms. watkins? >> yes. looking back at this chart the same doesn't seem to apply on the supply and that way we want to understand this better. the consumer isn't getting the out of it at the pump so what i want to understand is what it is that you're company can and should do and what congress can do to incentivize action so we can alleviate the pain at the pump for her constituents? the demand is rebounded for nearly a year and projected to get to 2019 levels by 200,000 barrels per day this year. the demand is there. we haven't reached pre-pandemic level production. i understand you cannot simply flip on the switch or turn on the spigot you must be honest

about ramping up production slowly. the federal reserve found nearly 60% of oil companies are restraining growth because of investor pressure. but the same survey found for large firms like the one of you all sitting to force a day needing to turn a profit on a new well is somewhere around $80 au barrel. roughly half the current price. barrel. mr. muncrief was there with the pretty dissipated just stated on december 21, 2021 we can't sustain production alter -- ultralow funding level for $30 a barrel. if that approximately your breakeven point? san i guess, it is. it's slightly higher than that.

>> mr. lawler used they don't call with investors a breakeven price. barrel of crude is $41 m a barrl and averaged $35 a barrel between now and 2027. is that accurate? >> the projects we are developing itsts accurate. >> mr. lawler your breakeven price was around $45. barrel for oil that still your breakeven point? >> that sounds about correct yes. >> mr. wirth your breakeven was around $60. barrel to cover capital expenditures and advance. what is the breakeven to cover your costs without that? congresswoman it's about

$10 billion yearly and protection of the billion dollars [inaudible] >> ms. watkins yurt company is breaking in 30 barrels is that correct fixed me guess. >> mr. schiff of your breakevent is around $30 a barrel is that correct wickstandt that's correct. my friends the price of oil todaynd was $96. 76 for wti and $101.54 for -- even those prices it's no surprise the oil and gas industry is projected to do collect a a windfall of $126 billion in 2021 and while you breakeven and are selling well above $100 the oil industry is making billions of dollars in subsidies from the american --

subsidies are strictly interested that need taxpayer assistanceil remain afloat. it's not clear to me why you are getting tax subsidies and the taxpayers are paying for it at the price at the pump. li will leave it with data andi yield back. spirit i think the gentlelady. thell chair recognizes mr. shaw for five minutes. >> we are in a free-market economy of publicly held companies that millions and millions of americans have as part of their heart folio in their retirement accounts think we need to remember that. this is a free-market economy. and sometimes i think some of my colleagues forget that. today my constituents are paying record high gas prices. the price of one gallon of regular unleaded is $4.25 a gallon pot diesel is over $5 a

gallon. average gas prices in indiana are 45% higher than at this time last year. since the invasion of ukraine ha undoubtedly have an impact on prices with other members of this committee have been sounding the alarm on rising fuel energy costs and january of 2021. that's when it really evolved. we've been sounding the alarm on rising fuel prices since well before the invasion of ukraine. today my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are calling on their usual gameplay when gas prices get too high. it's price-gouging. let's be clear this is why you -- it's been policy of biden administration and instead of looking to how we can reverse course on w these policies we we

for back to the ftc which is never shown price-gouging is the main culprit. for decades every time it's been approached to study this. not only are these policies emptying wallets my constituents affecting national security. as we should be learning from our european allies those energy policy of have given significant -- to putin. it baffles me why the biden demonstration continues to pursue policies to weaken the position of our allies and adversaries states around the world seek to weaponize access perdue must get back to american energy dominance. youma mentioned a testimony to military uses their power -- the biden administration in my view is playing right into russia and china sent by pursuing restrict

its energy policies attempting to negotiate dictators in iran and venezuela rather than reducing oil and getting our country back to. biden administration energy dominance where we were net exporters of energy for some this may be covered by general could explain what is at stake if the united states were to continue down this road and become irreversibly dependent on adversaries like china russia and japan to meet our energy needs?ta >> i'mte this meant thank you. we all live and learn so i'm hoping all of us will learn on russia's use of energy and in terms. of investing in our own production and exports which can help satisfy local demand inducingsl away that is a market benefit in terms of security and prosperity. i think you were alluding to the

danger associated with becoming over reliant on supply chains goes to china especially those connected to renewables. renewables associate with solar and wind power and the manufacturing of electric cars and batteries that go into them in the magnets that go into thm as well as the minerals in various materials. and by the way every car is one third made out of petroleum products but it's important for us to recognize we have an opportunity and i don't want to lathe blame on anybody at this stage. as long as we learn our lesson and change the policies and relax regulations and permitting a take advantage of the great promise of our natural resources here and american ingenuity. in particular concerned about china's situation and their

strong position in the renewable market as you just mentioned especially as we have arrested green energy agenda while discouraging mining of minerals. you did touch on this by pursuing this agreement without shoring up domestic mining and processing capabilitieses and or battery situation. are we simply going to create renewables that will echo our -- on mid-eastern oil? >> with work on this at the hudson institute and it shows how vulnerable we are to the supply chains that are vulnerable because they are dependent on china. i am out of time so i yield back. >> the chair now recognizes mr. -- for five minutes.

>> it's been talked about on the president level as close congress and all around the world for decades now. when it comes to clean energy the united states is leading of oil and natural gas and we have had numerous economic and if it's including job creation and greater competitiveness. nonetheless russians invasion on ukraine shed a light on us locally. i think the heads of corporations for determining their operations with russian it's important everyone understands ukrainian people and all people around the world who have been invaded by otherer countries and the atrocities occurring because of them. mr. muncrief prior to the prices at the pump how are you working

to save energy domestically? >> thank you that question. are fundamental businesses producing crude oil and natural gas productionke and the best thing we can do is to be a strong help the company. we continue to explore new mate -- new waste energy transmission and venture capitol to develop emissions monitoring and things like that. something we are continuing to look at and look for opportunities. the reality is that these are low return projects and we have to be mindful of that effort. >> thank you and iw- understand you have a legal and fiduciary responsibility or shareholders first and foremost and i understand that. thank you about your braveness and talking about profit and how

much clean investment energy are companies going to make. mr. wirth we can't ignore the ongoing crisis of climate change which is a serious threat to our national security in the future of our people. on monday the united nations panel on climate change released a report on climate change that indicates global emissions have never been higher and we are in a pathway to the 1.5 -- it was agreed upon in 2015 in a paris climate. if the current emissions trajectory and extreme climate change and the world that is uninhabitable. as the u.s. ships increase of energy how is energy being prioritized and what steps are you taking to prioritize sustainable energy to address i'm at change and reduce

emissions? >> congressman thank you for the question and thank you for your genuine appreciation for the contributions this industry makes to american competitiveness and our economy and the responsibility of the leaders of these companies. our strategy is to de-carbonized by reducing emissions intensity of oil and gas that we produce and the world still consumes and sreduce that co2 intensity over time while the world is using traditional sources of energy and to invest in newer lower carbon forms of energy at the same time. renewable hydrogen and carbon caption in storage but but thisr will spend $4 billion on renewable fuels and we have many projects we are working on developing in the areas of hydrogen carbon capture and other technologies. >> i'd like to point out the

$4 billion a mentioned that thed investment that's good but the same time some of your earnings are ports of $10 million. quarter. i heard earlier it's about making sure your bottom dollar is met as well. to the biggest country in the world comes to producing oil fossil fuel production maybe we can get more aggressive and be a better competitor to china so those economic orcas don't play out if we end up at the behest of china in the future. american industry is at the pump every single day and some of her folks in california prices are above $5.90 her gallon. we all have a role to play in making sure we get some relief to the american consumer and american families and american people. with that i yield back madam chairwoman.

>> the chair recognizes mr. walberg for five minutes. >> thank you madam chair. thee title of this hearing attempts to skirt blame away from what i hope we all know that despite recent favors the biden administration policies have always and will continue to push us away from energy security in favor of thee unrealistic goals. his first day of office president biden issued an order. my colleagues at pointed out along with the policies they have implemented since that time whether he be a realistic café standards the recent ftc rules for the ongoing threats that existing pipelines like line five in michigan created in hospital board environment for energy investment. meanwhile our constituents are suffering.

recently a constituent wrote to me, not far from my personal home saying someone had trailed overnight a the hole in their trucks gas tank and stole their gas. this is the environment that biden inflation and president lightens energy policies have created and it could get. literally something needs to change. general macmaster a few months ago sir there were reports that the biden administration was actively restoring the possibility of terminating the line five pipeline in michigan for u.s.-canada pipeline which brings light crude oil and natural gas to canada and our states and states across the midwest. doing so would cost thousands of jobs and further raise already record high costs for energy. general macmaster what message does the biden administration

talk about home and abroad? >> congressman the messages we are continuing to pursue non-solutions and it shows a high degree of strategic incompetence. support and for us to reduce carbon emissions and it's important for us to move rapidly toward renewables and zero-emission sources of energy. we have to also recognize the global energy demand will go up or a 5% by the middle of the century. it's important for us to undertake a range of actions to ensure our energy security and to ensure the prosperity for future generations and canceling pipelines as a non-solution. this is a way to move energy in a way that is much safer and more ecologically friendly and i think there is a certain ideology that drives this decision-making m and it reveals that we are not displaying the

degree of competenceta necessary to address these interconnected homess m of energy security nationalot security and pushes back against opec and russia's control of the gulf energy doesn't have? >> it does especially these pipelines can lead to export terminal that allows to alleviate the supply constraints in the global energy market. >> ms. watkins and mr. woods and mr. lawler i have been to some of those refineries. closing the line five pipeline would mean thousands of additional trucks on the road, anchors on the tracks going to our communities creating safety hazards and more emissions rather than the pipeline to do agree that pipelines are the safest and most efficient way to transport fuel?

>> yes serve. it's the best way to transport fuels. >> mr. woods? >> yes. >> eight mr. lawler. >> when properly maintained absolutely. and that is to keep properly maintained. line five is properly maintained and they are attempting to dig a tunnel underneath to totally in case it and protect it from any type of damage. the fact that would have been great to have her energy secretary here so we could ask those questions in the context of what it's doing to your industry. i appreciate your answers and with that i yield back. >> the chair now recognizes

ms. sullivan for five minutes. >> i want to start a thinking general macmaster for his service to our country and for appearing as a witness today. my question is directed at the oil company executives because my constituents want to know why they are paying outrageous prices to fill their car up -- cars up and crude oil takes up to 60% of the price of a gallon of gasoline and not doing anything while prices of the pump are going through the roof. .. anything for prices of the pump going through the roof. you all talked extensively about your companies and the global nature of oil prices that really aren't in your control. certainly, i understand how there are things that can affect prices in ways that are out of your control. one of the things seems to be

opec and opec plus. mr. woods, can you as we've talked about today, the main driver of price it and bouncing between supply and demand. opec basically get together to decide on production supplying the marketplace which would translate into balance and pressing. >> thank you. b it soundsd like production has n impact on price, maybebe strict output and prices declined. i've heard how your companies are independent deciding not to invest in newct supply to return value to the shareholder. you don't control price but you do y manage or manipulate supply to restrict product on the market relative to rising demand we are experiencing. you do that to create scarcity which drives up prices for that product. of course that create value to

the shareholder. i guess my question for anyone who wants to take this, isn't that what opec has been doing to the american people in our economy since the oil shock of the 1970s? how is your behavior from than that of opec? >> i would say you've mischaracterized the approach the industry takes in general and specifically the approach exxon mobile has taken. i would tell you 2017 -- 21 we've been extremely committed improving production and increasing supply and making sure any of she remains available and affordable for people around the world. we did the hard things when we were making money, we continued to invest, the products needed for additional supply were available and are producing. as a result, production we will

have this year is 25% the mosher, higher than it was before. global liquid oil production around the world is the highest it will happen this year for 15 years so this company has been working to make sure we are making the investments and thinking about impact on people around the world including consumers here are struggling with high prices make sure products are available to meet theirak needs reliably. >> i'm glad to hear you're trying to do something but more needs to be done. the other thing is the price of oil by global markets, the american people want to know why we should continue to shower your incredibly possible companies with tax rates and subsidies if you're not working in the interest of american consumers oil companies like those testifying today get tangible tax breaks, depletion, allowances, tax reductions and

expenses, tax credits reducing oil and gas or marginal wells, exceptions and working interest and oil and gas properties for them from attribute to domestic production activity for oil and gas and organization. for geological and geophysical expenditures and it doesn't complete the list. these will not increase supply and lower prices foror american consumers and time to reconsider whether tax dollars should add to companies profits. thank you and i yell back. >> mr. mullen for five minutes. >> thank you madam chair, i appreciate the witnesses being here today and understand the difficulties as a business so i want to start with the onset of

the pandemic in march 2020, we saw oil drop and prices plummet. we are seeing a demand rise to pre-pandemic levels, can you explain meeting these needs? >> the process of ramping up reduction, you need to secure services and manpower and infrastructure and permits and that is something we have been doing so if you look at 2021 monthly average 14 rigs at 19, ramping and honestly it is challenging, you've heard testimony about manpower, tight

labor market information so something we have to think about but for our company, we've not only increased activity bringing all three in and that will have a big implication among not only the back half of 22 by 2023 as well president biden has been vocal about the gas and oil, what signals does not go to the industry trying to plan your future for the company? >> for us, we need dialogue and that is what we have been asking for. for instance, with our companies, about 20% of our activity for acreage is on federal land. 50% of activity and capitol

budget is on federal land and production is corresponding so we see ramping up of production primarily in southeast new mexico, the most active counties in the entire nation so we are seeing good response that we have to think about not just existing permit for new permits for the drilling but we also need additional, you have to think about right ways infrastructure buildout and long-haul pipes getting to the market. >> thank you, sir. general mcmaster, allies are reliant on energy from russia with russia waging war on ukraine, it more that, would you agree american energyy

independent create global civilization? >> absolutely, i don't know how else to say it. >> are there geopolitical vulnerabilities for oil from venezuela, iran and russia? >> absolutely because we know it is the atm of experts that allows those reviews to stay in power to keep in place the networks that make people in those countries reliant to them and iran in particular, it is revenue from oil exports that allow them to continue for decade-long proxy war against us, there arab nations and israel. >> here in the united states, the biden administration is pushing us away from fossil fuel. can you explain how this plays into the hands of communist china? >> it plays in the hands of china because we cannot meet global energy demands without

the u.s. being a player in the global energy market. natural gas in particular, trying to jump ahead to renewables before renewables were economically viable in terms of developing economies put china in a position of control where china can restrict access to renewable sources of energy and gain coercive power over us. it's reminiscent of u.s. dependency on middle eastern oil inle the 1970s. >> that brings me back to what i like to say all the time, american energy independence brings global civilization. i have the opportunity to visit with allies around the world and they will tell you the same thing, they rather buy oil from a from the country like ours often depend on buying oil from a country they know would rather take them down see them succeed. global stabilization happens

when we have independence from america. i yield back. >> thank you, madam chair. appreciate the opportunity to be with you today. i'd like to start by tearing down some permits. the keystone pipeline so far has been would not be operational until at least next year. somehow it is adversely affecting the price of oil gaspi at the pump needs to be somewhat mystifying and look at them in the eye to make that argument. it's essentially canadian export pipeline. at the american people in the eye and make that argument. what is more on keystone xl was essentially a canadian export pipeline designed to take canadian oil to foreign markets.

canadian officials have said just as much. let me get to i would like to ask each of the producers here starting with mr. lawler, are you prepared for the wholesale price of gasoline at 18.3%? >> i can't commit to that today. >> how about you? >> the way the market works, we collect the tax on behalf of the government and remit it to the government so if it were suspended, with no longer collect it and it would no longer be passed through to the marketplace. >> so your price of gasoline would be reduced by 18.3%? >> we act tax and to wholesale price. we no longer add that on. >> all right, thank you, sir. how about mr. woods. he tax were

would no longer add that on. >> thank you, sir. how about mr. woods with exxon? >> the wholesale gasoline market is set by supply and demand levels. we don't set the price on that. as mr. worth said, depending on how that market translatesed in the supply and demand affects the price it would set the fries. >> the 18.5 cents wouldn't number the price? >> would not be in the price. >> that's not my question. if we declare a federal tax holiday is your pleiss price going to go down 18.3 cents. >> we don't set the wholesale price. that's set by wholesale demand. we won't collect the tax, but then the market will set the price for the underlying fuel. >> all right.

i appreciate that. let's see. ms. watkins. how about shell. what will shell do if we declare a federal tax holiday of 18.5 cents. congressman, we are in a similar situation. we will no longer collect the federal tax. the price of gasoline will be set in the marketplace. and it is based on supply and demand. >> let me see if i have got this right. either one of the four that just spoke can correct me, please. what you are saying is that supply and demand is setting the price of wholesale gasoline, which obviously gets translated to retail, and ultimately to what my constituents pay for gasoline. so the 18.3 cents that we charge for a federal tax holiday really isn't affecting anything? other than the government's collecting some revenue? it is not affecting supply and demand? it is not affecting the price at the pump. is that correct? >> congressman, it is added to

the price at which the wholesale gasoline is sold through the value chain. if it is is spended, that component leaves the equation. the rest of the dynamics remain in the marketplace as they do every day. >> so there is no promise then that the price is going to go down by 18.3 cents, correct? >> congressman, it is impossible to predict how commodity markets will behave day to day. >> i appreciate the candor. what i am trying to do is disabuse the american public of this myth of if we do something like declare a federal tax holiday that the price of gasoline will go down. we don't know what will happen is what you are all saying because of the mysteries of supply and demand and this and that could have the wholesale price go up, sideways or just about any direction. madam chair, i appreciate this opportunity. let me say this. i think our solution ultimately ought to be we just need to give direct payments to the american

people during this emergency so they have extra money to pay for gasoline that would be my solution. i have said as much as on the record. i have said as much to leadership. i look forward to the continuing of this discussion and i yield back the balance of my time. >> i thank the gentleman. the chair is now pleased to recognize mr. carter for five minutes. >> thank you madam chair and thank you for allowing me to waive onto this committee and thank all the witnesses for being here. what i have behind me is a charlotte of receipts that i have asked constituents of my district to send in to us. what you will see here, first of all, there is an $80 to fill up a tank, $80 receipt to fill up a tank in brunswick, gentleman. $135 in weight cross georgia. one constituent pointed out they spent $334 just last month on gas. behind each of these receipts is a story. sam is having to cancel his veterans affairs appointment

because he can't afford to get there. kayla summarized the pressure facing the working class americans by saying, and i quote, i can't afford to go to work. but i also cannot afford not to go to work. unquote. we are forcing our seniors, our single parents, and our veterans to choose between groceries and gas. between a regular paycheck and regular fuel. it all comes down to the biden administration's refusal to recognize reality and instead rage wear a war on fossil fuels. i for one do not believe any of these assertions that have been ma that is not what it is. this was happening before vladimir putin unprovoked invasion to ukraine, it happened since the policies of this administration started taking place. general mcmaster, i want to ask you, ukraine in the geographical areas they are in, they have a second biggest known gas reserves. they have a lot of natural gas. in your written testimony

general mcmaster, he said russian military incursions focused on 10% of ukrainian territory home to 90% of their energy. vladimir putin is the devil himself. however, he knows what he's doing here. i pu want to ask you, can you elaborate on the notion that russia is weapon rising energy against the free world? >> is been engaged in this for quite some time, he's weaponize energy against bulgaria, romania and of course we see it against ukraine and now europe robbing and germany in particular to try to weaken our resolve in connection with a response to ukraine. he wants more of it, to gain more and more access to oil reserves as you mentioned in eastern ukraine focusing this

and the great ukraine heist associated with what russia is trying to do in the don ross region in particular but he's done the same in serious as well. february of 2018, russian mercenaries attacked u.s. imported democratic forces in the river collier. they are goingar after the oil facility because putin knew he didn't have the money needed to reconstruct the country he helped rubble in syria. you see the adventurism in eastern libya on the part of the russians so he tried to gain more power, not less over the global economy through control of higher carbon exports and our interest to make sure they can't do that. >> let me ask this, during the time, the week of the invasion of ukraine, i along with two other members of his committee, representative wahlberg and curtis as members of the

conservative caucus, we were in brussels, europe when this happened we were there to look at what europe has been doing in the way of clean energy and it became obvious to us that europe has jumped the gun and they have closed down in, shut down nuclear plants. an important lesson for us to learn here in america, would you say it is realistic to imagine europe around the rest of the world could be energy independent of russia in the near future? >> it is impossible especially if you take nuclear out of the equation which is what germany did. sadly my home state of california is about to do the same will shut down a nuclear plant that now generate 10% of the states electricity and it makes no sense to do that.

>> general mcmaster, i'm sorry, one final thing, the main american oil industry, we can help you appear, is that not true? >> that is correct and of course this is a solution important but also an important solution because everybody is burning more coal as a result of constraints on the oil and gas were so we need to export more gas not only because it makes sense in terms of economics cents and energy security but also in terms of climate and co2 reductions bridging into cleaner forms of energy. >> by the way, natural gas here is cleaner than russian gas,, correct? >> absolutely, a long piece on this and maybe policy solution that can help incentivize cleaner extraction can transport of natural gas consistent withra the way we do it in america. >> thank youay and i yelled bac.

thank you. >> the chair now recognizes this clock for five minutes. >> i think the chairwoman for convening this critical oversight hearing on big oil and gouging at the gas station. it is very clear to most americans that big oil profiteering is taking place at the expense of the people and our planet. at a time when democracy and democratic values are threat, the people of ukraine are being massacred and the american people are suffering do to historic height and gas prices emerging from once in a century pandemic. your companies are making record profits. nobody is not impacted by your actions then low income and they

spent the highest amount of their income or transportation and basic but just to get by. these communities are suffering long before this current crisis and now they are crying out for our help. what is your response? you are enriching your investors buyback and dividends and lining their own pockets millions after millions in executive compensation. many of my republican colleagues here, and i believe your companies as well are trying to take advantage of moment as an excuse to push for oil and gas and less environmental regulation. this is not the first time you've done this. you say we need to drill our way out of the crisis. you say we need to hurry and

approve gasoline and drilling permits and build pipelines but the very opposite is true. we have been trying to go our way and energy security for decades. we currently have more drilling permits than your companies are using but no amount of drilling can change the fact that oil isp an unstable global commodity completely out of our control. they shocked the market and see prices soaring, tomorrow it will be something else. no amount of drilling is w going to change the underlying reality that oil and gas are finite resources in the marketplace largely controlled by dictators and autocrats.

let's try to remember the extraction and use of fossil fuelel is pushing it to the very brink of climate disaster and already destroy lives and livelihoods of people of color and black and brown communities across the globe. now is not the time to drill more. now is the time to finally wake up to the reality that the only way out of this crisis and future oil crises is by investing in renewable energy and green energy workforce at the scale needed to achieve clean energy sector by 2035. today technology to combat the climate crisis create high-paying jobs and grow our economy all at once. the only thing is federal action

to seize the moment and bring a path forward. this is why i've introduced american renewable energy act with my friend and colleague, congressman peter welch. this is why we need to immediately renew negotiations for climate sensors build back better act that will unleash a wave of green energy invested across our nation. before my five minutes are up, i'd like to ask you each, each of our executives a yes or no question. number one, do you believe we need historic investment in renewable energy to combat the climate crisis and our nationsen reliance on fossil fuel? do you believe your company should play a part in this transition? don't all speak at once.

>> this is dave, we believe the transition is very important and we've moved forward -- >> so that is a yes? >> we are supportive. >> very well, mr. werth. >> i believe we look toye technology innovation. >> is not a yes or no? >> i believe technology innovation -- >> so not a yes or no. i'll take that assoo a no. >> we have a lot of challenges. >> i got it, i got it. you're not ready to say yes or not. >> your time has expired and we are trying to get everybody to the floor to vote. >> let me thank you once again, madam chair and i yield back. >> i apologize, thank you. >> americans no they are paying more, much more for gasoline today than they were at the end

of the trump administration i know why, the policies of the biden administration, his hearing is a complete and total deflection by the democrats to distract from the energy crisis. president biden and congressional democrats have created. the trying to find someone else to blame. don't let them gaslight you. record high gas prices are not at vladimir putin of oil t and s companies. look at the dichotomy of the fall of 2021 and attempt to lay blame here today. i'll ask this article to be set for the record. this is an article, april 5, 2022. it says last autumn there demanding same oil and gas companies produce less oil and reduce global supply of crude, that was just last fall. october 28 hearing, california representative pledging to reduce oil production.

it goes on to say in questioning he said you commit to do anything matching counterparts to bring the demand of oil production down. they are trying to blame someone else. lowering production as the. supports say yes or no? in fact, california representative katie porter eliminated this when she chided ceos for opposing biden's call on new oil and gas on federal land. you can't have it both ways, you can't come and blame others for rising prices of gasoline at the pump when last fall you were

blaming, or at least the dichotomy of that trying to get oil and gas companies to produce less. the day before they invaded ukraine, gas prices were already up 55% from the day biden took office. why? displayed by representatives police a minute ago, they drive the cost of production up for oil and gas producers. he provided rags i'd like to submit for the record. rags driving the cost of production up for american producers. we saw what president biden, candidate president biden said. i think scalise talked about that but d let's look at fy 22 budget and developing budget for advancing, one of which was not

letting work that directly subsidizes also feels including work lowers the cost of production, lowers the cost of consumption, lowers the price at the pump for american families or raises revenue retained by producers of fossil fuel. that was then. joe biden's 2022 budget. ... >> it's hard because of north stream to project president biden of january last year, the money that vladimir putin oil and gas european countries had natural gas and oil to the united states passes bargain helps paper his aims in ukraine and elsewhere is one of the richest men in the world. so i hope that will just look at

germany, germany to serve as a warning signal to the in the zoloft the environmental ideology now facing energy crisis and phased out nuclearer power and coal now import more than half of the natural gas guess russian companies mission down 14 of their 17 nuclear plants and instead of predators in cleanburning nuclear energy germany made a policy decision it to heavily subsidize intermittent renewables and buying local and local plans are coming online in the hypocrisy of pushingde climate change initiatives being held on in the world as a leader renewables homes and they sayn what we need power on coal and i don't think that leaders and they have been at the mercy of vladimir putin on and off. just cannot have it both ways, you cannot encourage roller production and try to blame

somebody when the prices go up and i'll back. >> the gentle lady from delaware's recognizer five minutes. >> thank you for calling this importantbo meeting and also to the witnesses for your testimony today we heard repeatedly, americans are paying for the gasoline prices higher than they ever have before and truly underscores the imperative for our country to be energy independent it and in my state the average cost gallon of gasoline is having about $4 him up that much i know seem like a lot to some,e, but it was $2.70 says aen year ago and in this be is directly impacting delaware you and does i've heard from retirees on fixed incomes, veterans and parents are struggling to pay the soaring gas prices one constituent around to me the cost actually went up byy 20 percent in gallaudet while he was standing atre the pump we've seen presidt

biden ed that many states including delaware state bar makers and government working on legislation to alleviate some burden s on dover leaders are planning to get $300 in direct payments to taxpayers to provide some economic relief i delaware's continues to struggle with rising prices at the pump throughout the hearing we have heard from members of congress, with solutions but i want to talklk to you about the solutios that you are focused on that we can tackle together we have the gas prices are complex the lingering economic impacts of the pandemic it global markets and improving some unprovoked were all factors intoha the cost the people are hurting, they want to understand what is happening and why it is happening and how we are going to tackle it a nursing oil company's megan record profits and want to understand all of the money is going and why with these record profits, they are

paying so much at the pump the oil companies about the pain of the covid-19 pandemic, and is a southern demand for gas evaporaten and in the cares act provided generous bailouts to the oil and gas industry and now is the prices continue to soar, it simply industry to step up and help thehe american people that we need to work together to create more financially secure future for all americans. we have heard a lot today about the sacrifices that americans are making it i would like to hear about the sacrifices you companies are making now i want to be clear i'm asking this in a 40 ofma the questions for the record in the interest of time, is in reading your testimonies, and if you talk about the things that you supported in the past, and the things that you going to do in the future, people are hurting right now and i like to hear from each of you your commitment so i will cement tht for the record and specifically

in recent interview, you highlighted your promise to be more disciplined to get cash back to the shareholders with dividends any asked yourself, not question of whether you're going to keep your promise, or what are you going to be patriotic it, does company willing to forgo getting cash back to the shareholders in order to ease the burdens americans are feeling at the pump. >> thank you for the question over the last decade are company spent 110 percent of its cash flow operating cash flow going to gone dead and issued new shares in their prison physician to be where we are today have the guardians i missed earlier we are increasing our production and we areth adding it 40 breaks to 19 rights and we have 300 new wells added this year so we are

doing a lot we also are going to take care of our shareholders and then the shareholders stuck with us all these years and when we weren't profitable and we are finally turning a profit is over not going to forget them as words of patriotism, if you are pressed to find out more patriotic industry i think that the united states gas companies. >> given vladimir putin's tragic invasion of ukraine you still believe returning cash to shareholders would be a top priority see if we have several priorities had returning cash to the shareholders are absolutely one of our top priorities yes. >> okay, you answered the question into your testimony do think that even with constraints net domestic our production it reached a new record i yes noted the mother supply chain issues the shortage of four cars, are preventing you from additional drilling a mature company is

also stated that it works to maintain a low investment ratio and as a surprise preventing yop from increasing production capacity. >> no, i think the most important thing for us as far as additional capacity. >> it is just a yes or no big some running out of time but i ran out of time. >> he sees me and t can you rept the question when we get a break. >> will submit it for the record and again thank you for your leadership and i think you for the focus on their constituents as well as the consumers you back. >> and i think that gentle lady mature woman asked mother to - at this moment so were going to be in recess for ten minutes. [background sounds].[background.

[background sounds]. >> i would like to call this meeting back to order and i would like to recognize the gentlewoman arizona for five minutes. >> thank you manager, and thank you tod the people testifying today and on this chart, hopefully the camera can zoom in a little bit on this chart his clearlypl shows the prices for gasoline have gone up ever since president biden it took office and democrats took control about

the u.s. house have representatives and the senate and you know in arizona, the prices are even higher than this in gasoline prices in arizona are $4.65 since a gallon on average in fact arizona has one of the highest were the highest inflation rates inre the entire country as i have a question for you, do you think that it is a coincidence that gas prices started down here when after trump left office and they have continually got up even though the strategic oil reserves through the war in ukraine and now they are way up here, do you think that is a coincidence pretty think that it is there because of the bided democrats policies and the war against

american oil and gas. >> is not a coincidence, number of factors that play but is not a coincidence. >> well i totally agree with you and that is why a call on president biden and my democratic p colleagues increase production of american oil and gas. i also think it's real interesting that biden when asked, when is his answer to the high rise of gas was by an electric car, will first of all electric cars are very expensive so not everybody can afford one but electric cars and renewable energy require a lot of critical minerals and a lot of those critical minerals are actually processed in china and so for instance, when determines, solar

panels, they all require critical materials and electric cars require four times the amount of copper in a standard car and yet president biden has closedes down minds. there's a minute arizona call resolution, provided under the trump administration, he was given theas green light to go ahead and continue mining and went biden was in office after two months, he closed it down. and i went to visit there in the mine would produce 25 percent of all of the copper that is consumed in the united states including it electric vehicles and so, i guess what i'm trying to say is that the policies with biden and democrats have hurting america there causing the prices

to go up. the other thing that i find interesting is that recently, i was able to speak to former secretary of state pompeo and he was at a meeting and he expressed how whenever he went to the meetings with foreign countries, he would use u.s. energy dominance and as a negotiating tool when dealing with foreign countries. general mcmasters, do you believe the biden and the democrats war against u.s. oilh gas, and their war on u.s. mistakeyo mining hurts our national security. >> we have to do everything we can to increase energy security and as you already mentioned, the makeup for the complacency in the area mining and access to

minerals that are critical to the gobi economy in the energy transition and so i agree with your broader point that we are behind we have to make up for lost ground and much of it self-inflicted. >> and i totally agree with you general mcmasters and ms. of the american people will realize that the democrat policies hurting america and hurting american politics and without i yield back. >> and recognizes the next person for five minutes. >> thank you for holding this important it meeting at the holy executives accountable for taking advantage of a war for profits at the expense of the american people. public information is that your compensation went from 29 and $29 million in 2020, 23 $3m in 2021 is that accurate.

>> the years are not accurate, number our. >> okay, put you in an increase of about $4 million, is a center-right. >> no my pay went down in 2020 when. >> will be have any idea with that was. >> that will be released in a proxy statement. >> so we have some information at that's available that shows 29 millions and 29 - and mr. what he, and exxon, the public information that i have is that you went from $60 million in 2020, and 23.5 million in 2021, and bp executives it looks like your pay doubled in 2021 and the shell ceo had 2d why is this important, because the american

people are not getting a 4 million-dollar race not having to pay doubled and what is happening is they are feeling the pinch and they are feeling the pressure at the gas pump they are asking, why is the gas so high and that is what this hearing is about today, and's about asking about what is going on, the bigd oils lining up the pockets with one hand and taking billions in taxpayer subsidies with the other while the w american people are getting ripped off in these companies choose to keep the production locum is on the profits can remain high. >> people areri hurting and that's what they want an answerct to, any yes or no, do higher oil prices mean higher dividends for your . shareholders >> yes. a >> thank you and the next person, is that also true for you do you

brew that. >> yes. >> and you both of your companies also offer variable dividends for those watching that means, your payment to the shareholders goes up in the earnings are high and goes down when the earnings are low. >> that is correct yes. >> thank you and i like to into the record and articles variance magazine from financial magazine titled energy dividends trends are catching on and on everybody is. on board the article covers how othe oil companies have difficult hundred and back more their shareholders in the oil prices are high in this article highlights of bragging about rapidly rising dividends and the pockets commanded from oincreased pricing and a dividend of windfall pockets to your investors, please a lot of room for exploitation in every company here is doing this in their own

way they give raises dividend us and all of you are taking advantage of an oil subsidy and you benefited in different ways from the cares act and this was the first coronavirus relief bill passed to have the communities respond to the pandemic for example, devon energy received $105 million from the care act and fossil fuel companies received tens of billions of dollars and some just diesne los and tax write offs during the covid-19 relief times are good for you, it's not a good time for that experience at americans are getting gouged at the pump and we need a to dividend fr the american people predict that's why i support the windfall - and big oils windfall profit tech indocin the big oil windfall directly back to the american people and give them poorly dividends in congress took the 71980, in response to the opec

oil embargo and we should do it again to provide relief to the american people and what is happening to them is not right we need you to do your part in making sure were helping the american people and with that, i yield back. >> that your now recognizes next person for five minutes. >> thank you for allowing me join this meetig today and thank you for the witnesses for being here and petroleum is n the lifeblood of our economy let me say that again, trillium the lifeblood of our economy and today, this hearing is an attempt at the biden administration and the democrats to help the chinese ls out of energy independence in the backgrounded the petroleum distributionto business, i can tell you firsthand, but the misleading a title of today's

hearing, does not reflect the reality of domestic oil market. as a national director for circle k fuels minor with the price of petroleum likes proposal to retail, was based upon a variety of quest value ce witnesses have discussed today and wrongly accusing oil companies a price gouging is only meant to cover up this administration'sur own anti- fossilus fuel agenda as my peers in this saturday i'll have pointed out numerous times today and every turn the biden administration in my friends across the aisle, one make it harder to produce, distribute use fossil fuels with the chinese electric agenda. and for the hoosiers walk each enter watching at home, those gas prices higher utility bills, and best energy security in the situation in ukraine, tragically

has compounded the presidents energy crisis to make no mistake, this problem started long before march of 2022 predict custom press seven pushing a complex equation for agreed economy that is totally unattainable and you can't get t done when they want to get it done and that is why the build back better act off and this administration been creating regulatory uncertainties and i investor pressures on finance and fossil fuel projects that have squeezed oil companies fueling the volatile energy markets we see today and the president needs to reverse course of our country back on a path towards long-term durable energy independence. and by accusing the oil companies a price gouging now, it will only give out of time to set, the argument is pushed to thees healthcare industry in the

manufacturing sectors, commerce, and the rest of the economy leaped want everybody to be accused of price gouging of their inflation and yields andin cannot be a catchall response to the inflation in an overwhelmingly regulatory environment that just keeps piling up every single day. the whole answer coming from this administration has been misguided use of our strategic petroleum reserve to lower the gas prices and of course this hearing pretty looking of the best to emergency strategic petroleum move reserve, we fail to see meaningful effects of the pump for my hoosiers my district in general masters, what is the purpose of this. >> sorry, the difference of what congressman i'm sorry. >> the purpose of the strategic

petroleum reserve. >> it is obviously, is a reserve this been mainly for more trying to make sure that if there is an interruption in supply, that we can compensate for that and that we won't have a national security risk associated with the petroleum. >> think in general you never know that the relief was not announced to supply disruption lori war. yet were going to go down 40 percent of what is in their and the average price is below $30 and i know i guess are going to replace around 100 and the prices at the pump, would be be relying on the probe to stabilize energy markets and lower the prices, does that help releasing the million barrels a day. >> all reported witnesses on this but i'll say it has a lot to do with obviously the ability to produce.

>> can you comment on my question. >> is this going to affect lowering prices and stabilizing the markets summa congressman, there's a signal that suggests there is more supply available and it is not a long-term solution to this challenge. >> it doesn't't seem to be doing that three weeks ago the price was about the same as it is today so thank you and i yield back. >> kswhich are now recognizes te next person for five minutes. >> thank you madame chair, the pandemic, the war in ukraine, record oil profits, at them all up, we see record prices at the pumps for so many americans but especially with the record profits in the record prices, americans aret understandably angry and of course our republican colleagues talk a big game but they fail to it that the roll of this, republican screwed up pandemic response in

covid-19 ran rampant in the economyy creator and the demand the production for oil knows that that it still has not recovered and added that recently entered cozy relationship of helped some house republicans with russia voting against military aid for ukraine in voting against sanctions and the conclusion is clear, republican colleagues your plenty of blame here today. when the oil prices were down because of covid-19, the federal government it came to your aid with the cares act in the market rescue plan and the tax relief and many of which were supported by bipartisan majority here and now we get back to normal with the pandemic in the supply chainsid are improving but slowy and asked for the war in ukraine, we stand steadfast and with the ukrainian sicknesses violent russian invasionn in ts also may take some time and in the face of these challenges, and the time of her greatest

anita, look in the oil companies do, increase the supply to keep the prices affordable and step up for us, for your country, for the market people, no pretty kept the production nearly the same and you watch and record high petroleum thank you had about 2020 a getting to try to make it up for 2021, what we are in 2022 and there should be no more excuses for record profits made on the misery of our nation braided a profits for executive salary bonuses and record profits for the state of your investments. you see right here in this chart, and meanwhile florida and for the family suffering let me make it clear, we still inside of the american people, the ironych is greeted and do becaue of you american get it and they understand we need to transition to electric cars as soon as possible and think about it

every time you see a tesla, and electric it configures every bolt driving down my four, they think why am i still paying for gas and this is why the senate must pass 500 billion-dollar climate change investments it that was already pass this year but in theol short term, turning back to oil itself, it's at 103 today, in the u.s. per barrel back on march 1st, we saw when oil prices were around 100 books some of the gas prices were $3.60 and $3.70, central florida and had myself checked today in the gases up $4.11 says, 40 - 50 cents higher than it was when the gas was so frail this level just a few months ago and during world war ii, your company stepped up from 1940 - 1945, overall u.s. oil production increased by 30 percent, president biden is on his part

by ordering the release of 1 million gallons tuesday barrels per day for the next six months or so my question to all of u.s., will you step up and will you increase production at and increase and during how much in april so first think you for being here and will you commit to increasing production during april and for how much are you willing to commit. >> we are producing of production and increasing production effect we started that effort several years ago and we continue our investment through the pandemic it when we were losing money and i'll be getting it to pay off and production under 5 percent. >> my time is limited and we appreciate you all stepping up andd ms. watkins, and show you step up production in april to help meet the challenger nation is facing. >> is matter fact in the gulf of mexico in a new field about a week or ten days ago, which will produce about 20000 barrels a

day more this morning we announced another new wealth coming on stream that will produce about 10000 barrels a day so we are in the process of bringing on new production will chevron step up to increase production of the course of april. >> punishment, and of the irony of six months ago i was asked to pledge to produce production. d

less. u circumstances you remember being asked to drill less? >> i remember it well. >> today we wonder how did we get to this point where there is a mast mismatch between supply and demand and clear underinvestment in oil and gas production? what a mystery this is? what could have caused it? stopping federal leases? no delaying or outright cancelling pipeline purchases? no. impossible. or the president personally promising he would end the industry, and we wonder why capital isn't sprinting toward >> to avoid an energy crisis, limited remind you the people died from lack of energy and in large numbers of all of the green compassion that i girded about as answers for that as of the t question is how do we cree the conditions to make your investor change your mind initially want to send it additional money and severe

companies are talking of the makeup that $25 million and why not many reasons, i want to talk about the cost of capitol the influence and president biden is hiking up the cost of capitol womanizing the bankingng rules y their access roll doubling down the guidance that would make it more costly. democrats are financial services are helping them opposing to charge the banks it surcharge lending the companies like yours. .. proposing to charge banks a surcharge for lendsing to companies like yours. then you have the distribute actions for democrats that help activist esg investors, is s.e.c. that puts its thumbs on the scales to promote investments in unreliable green energy instead of reliable oil and gas, the same s.e.c. who wants to use the proxy advisory process to force companies out of oil and gas. folks at exxon know what that's all about. my question, i want to start with mr. sheffield, this

weaponization of the financial industry has had and will have an impact on more oil production; is that correct? >> yes, that's correct. in >> thank you for the question, i think just from what i can gather from a they've not had any issues maintaining low cost of capitol. >> mr. werth, same question. >> congressman, there are no shortages of efforts underway that appear to be intended constraint access for this industry. >> appreciate that. i want to make some other points. the future depends on us getting right and can continue on this and watching skyrocket to meet g next to nothing to reduce emissions. renewables only path and keep watching prices skyrocket, failing to meet demand and doing next to nothing to reduce emissions or we can face the

facts. american oil production is cleaner than opec's and russia's by lot. oil and gas is still expected to make up the loye on's share of the production. you cannot change these facts. the fact, is renewables will never immediate that demand. to meet the renewables only climate goals you would have to mine lithium 2,000% more. cobalt production will have to grow 8000s more, for a wind farm to produce the same amount of energy as coal, you need 50,000 tons of iron, concrete, and 900 tons of plastic fan blades which cannot be recycled. here's the most important fact, the american natural gas quadrupled in the next decade we would displace coal around the world. here's another fact. about half of global emissions

are from foreign coal. displace that with cleaner gas and you reduce emissions 60%. wow, just like that you solved the energy crisis. and by the way reduced emissions more than the foolish $10 trillion green new deal ever could. by the way, to our witnesses thank you for being here taking abuse. but that's the argument you should be making. instead of believing like you have stockholm syndrome like your serve illity to the radicals in this administration will get them to like you one day. they will never like you. stand up for your work, our employees and your consumers. speak the truth. don't pander to what they want on the left because americans need you. and billions around the world who want to rise out of poverty and live a life of prosperity need you. thank you. and i yield back. >> thank the gentleman. chair now recognizes ms. craig for five minutes. >> thank you so much, chairwoman degette, and chairman pallone for this hearing today. let me get this straight.

the six oil companies testifying at today's hearings collectively generated more than $76 billion in profit in 2021, and first quarter numbers look even higher for 2022. in the meantime, minnesota families are paying near record high prices at the pump and my republican colleagues are howling about energy independence when your industry has 9,000 oil leases given to you by the government that you aren't currently using. this is another dumb founding day in washington, truly. i don't fault you for making money. you are a business. but we've got a pandemic, and we've got putin, and you are using these crises to gouge the american people. you are using these crises to gouge my constituents. experts are predicting tens of billions of dollars in profit yet again this year for all of you. and that's on the backs of my

constituents. we all know that the price of crude oil has dropped in recent weeks, and yet minnesotans have seen very little relief at the pump. in fact, one of the only forms of relief right now from near record-high gas prices that my constituents have seen has come in the form of renewable biofuels. right now at fuel stations across my district, the blends of ethanol and gasoline, known as e 15 or unleaded 88, is saving my constituents as much as 50 cents per gallon compared with traditional gasoline. we could replace every barrel of oil from russia today with renewable fuels, which begs the question, with those record profits and a history of touting your desire to increase investments in renewable fuels, are you investing in strategies to reduce costs for consumers, like efforts to increase the

availability of e 15? i would like to turn to mr. worth first for my question. mr. worth, i would like to better understand your company's commitment to renewable fuels. given your record profits, how much is your company investing in biofuels research and development and expanded deployment? >> congresswoman, i don't have a research and development number but in terms of deployment this year we will spend $4 billion. we are growing renewable gas, renewable diesel, biodiesel, and are working with companies like bungee to integrate back into the agricultural feed stock chain to grow our renewable fuels business. >> thank you. i will have my team follow up to make sure we are aware of all of those efforts and we can learn more about the percentage of research you are putting into biofuels to drive down the cost of fuel for minnesotans.

thank you mr. worth. i want to now turn specifically to e 15. it was recently reported that bp began offering the 15% ethanol blends at terminals in eight states including minnesota. this will not only save consumers money, but it also will increase energy security and reduce carbon emissions with a domestically-produced product. mr. lawler, i appreciate this business decision from bp and hope that others in the industry will follow suit. unfortunately, due to a court case brought by refiners, consumers across the country will lose access to lower costs from e 15 without an emergency waver from the biden administration or immediate action. so, mr. lawler, let's start with you. i will give you each about ten seconds. but i want to ask you specifically, do each of you -- and please, yes, or no, do you support an emergency waver for e 15, year round sales? do you support a permanent

resolution to the e 15 rvp issue so that this lower cost, lower corps ban renewable fuel blend can be available to consumers year round? yes or no, mr. watkins -- excuse me. ms. watkins. >> i would need to understand the specifics of what you are talking about. but what i can tell you is that we are investing actually quite a bit of money in biofuels in particular. renewable natural gas. biodiesel, biofuels. >> ms. watkins. i appreciate that. it was a yes or no answer. mr. woods, do you support e 15 year round? >> there are challenges with e 15 going into the entire car fleet. >> mr. worth, do you support e 15 year round? >> subject to safety considerations with older vehicles, we blend ethanol at the maximum allowable limits into all of our fuel sells. >> mr. moncrief, year rounds? >> i actually don't know enough

about that issue to really comment. >> oh, wow. boy, you are all investing in biofuels. i can see that here today. mr. chieffield? >> we do not own retail. >> thank you. my time is up. so i will yield. and thank you for your time. >> thank the gentlelady. the chair now recognizes the ever patient the mr. armstrong who has been sitting here all day, for five minutes. >> thank you, madam chair. let's be clear what the title this hearing should be, it should be called gaslighting americans about gas prices n. july of 2019, when asked if there would be a place for fossil fuels in his administration, candidate biden responded, no, we would make sure it is eliminated n. january of 2020 when asked about stopping new pipeline infrastructure, candidate biden responded yes, yes. in february of 2020, candidate biden stated, we are doing to get rid of fossil fulsz. in march of 2020, candidate biden said no more drilling on federal lands, no more drilling,

including offshore, no ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period. ends. in october of 2020, candidate biden stated, it has to be released, replaced by renewables over time. in october of 2020, candidate biden said no fracking, and or oil on federal land. and in order to prove that his words were not just campaign rhetoric on the day of his inauguration, president biden killed the keystone xl pipeline and halted oil and gas leading on federal lands. in february of 2021, president biden inflated the social cost of carbon to justify more reg laces of fossil fuel production. on march 2nd of 2021, democrats, including some on this committee, introduced a bill to increase the cost and time of oil and gas production on federal land. and on march 19th of 2021, democrats introduced a bill to place an excise tax on american energy companies who produce oil and gas. april 1st, 2021, democrats

proposed a national carbon tax on oil and gas and their by products. on june 1st, 2021, president biden proposed a budget that would increase taxes on u.s. energy producers by at least $35 billion. august 11th, 2021, president biden asked foreign operators in opec not domestic producers, to increase supply to address rising gas prices n. october 29th, of 2021, president biden and congressional democrats again some on this very committee proposed a methane tax on u.s. oil and gas product. november 17th, 2021, president biden tried to redirect the blame from rising gas prices by requesting that the ftc investigate oil and gas companies on trumped up accusations of illegal activity. on february 17th of 2022, president biden's ferc chairman pushed through changes making it next to impossible to build or

upgrade pipeline notice of by requiring both upstream and carbon mitigation plans before permits would be approved. on march 12th of 2022, democrats who seemingly missed the president's memo requesting energy companies increase production introduced a bill that would implement a massive new tax destroying any incentive for u.s. producers to produce more oil and on march 21st, 2022, the s.e.c., in an attempt to morph into the securities and environment commission, issued a proposal that would target carbon energy companies and empower them activist share holdsers. march 28th, 2022, president biden in the middle of an energy crisis once again proposed a tax increase on domestic oil and gas producers totaling nearly $45 billion. and just last week, in the middle of all of this, asking for more investment in this industry, the fdic chairman proclaimed that carbon emitting source of energy present risks

to the safety of the financial sector furthering off capital to domestic energy production that is needed n. short, this administration and democrats in congress have done everything they can to disrupt, delay, and defeat domestic energy production and then gaslight the american public by blaming producers for not immediately investing billions of dollars into the industry which you are trying to destroy. so i have a couple of questions for mr. mcmasters and then i will end. do you think our allies in europe would like cheap affordable american energy during what is going on right now? >> absolutely. >> do you know of any way -- do you know of any way to export renewable energy? >> yes. i mean, there are -- i mean, the actual -- you know, of course you guys know i am adviser to sem practice energy which has

lng export capacity. it is lng exports that allows us to escape the dilemma of energy security reductions and allows us to make up for the gaps in energy supply that russia is using for coercive purposes. >> i agree with you on lng. let me be more clear. do you know of any way to exported either winds or solar energy? >> no, no, not on wind or solar. but, you know, the question is going to be battery capacity, the ability to store it. and there are some advanced ideas out there about using cables that could go across the oceans and so forth. but those are very much -- very far into the future. >> i thank the gentleman. the chair now recognizes ms. fletcher for five minutes. >> thank you chairwoman degette, and chairman pallone for allowing me to wave on and participate in today's hearing. we are nearing the ends of a very long day.

and i want to thank our witnesses for our time and your insights during today's hearing. as the chairwoman needed this is an investigatory and overigt hearing not a legislaive hearing. we are here because we are looking for ways to help to ease the pain that inflation at the fump and elsewhere is causing for the people we represent. these are serious challenges for our people, for our economy, and for our policy making. that's why i am so disappointed that so much of the questions we have heard today has centered around scoring political points and blaming others rather than taking a serious look at the challenges we face, their tlifrs as opposed to how we can address them. the challenges in the energy economy around the world are complex as they are in the moment. how we finds our energy sources, extract them, and deliver them

to consumers is vast, varied and complicated n. my district in houston we are involved in every aspect of that work. we are proud to do it. we supply energy to the world. for us, that means working collaboratively to partner with the people who produce energy including our witnesses today, and with policy makers everywhere in charting a path for our energy future that understands the very real challenges of today from supply issues driving up prices to climate change threatening our communities to create a lower carbon future. i hope everyone here heard that from our witnesses todays. in the five minutes i have, i can't possibly respond to everything that's been said here today that i disagree with. but there are things worth remembering as we move forward. less than three years ago at the ends of 2019 the united states hit a new domestic production peak just under 1:13 million barrels a day. when the pandemic hit, demands for oil and gas collapsed, under

unprecedentsed demand destruction. i cannot overstate the shock we felt at home seeing oil trade for less than 0 dollars a barrel. by the summer of 2020 only about 20 hundred drilling riks rigs were active, production drops. in the u.s., 120,000 people, many in texas, lost their jobs. contrary to what we have heard from our friends on the other sides of the aisle, our current rig count is not the result of some policy change from the biden administration and democrat. the rig count in the u.s. today is up to 673. that's up 243 from this time last year. likewise, my colleagues know that i have been unequivocal in my support of new pipeline construction for energy infrastructure, but the claim that problem caused the high energy prices by rejoking the permit for the keystone xl pipeline are not true.

the oil that keystone would have transported is still making its way into the market through other transportation methods. my colleagues know i haven't always agreed with the administration's policy in this area but the administration has approved 34% more drilling permits than the trump administration did in its first year. 900 rigs. and approved -- of applications to drill. there is not a meaningful connection between leasing sales and prices at the pump today. we heard as much from industry reps from the senate committee on energy and natural resource. finally we heard a lot today about the record $76 billion in profits that these companies have made in the last year. the record loss of $77 billion that these companies posted the year before n 2020, which some of the witnesses mentioned,

should not be discounted as some of my colleagues have suggested. nor should the more than 100 oil and gas companies, both enp and oil field providers that filed for drups bankruptcy in 2020. it wasn't just 2020. it was 2014, 2015, 1982 n houston we have lived through it all, the boom and the bust. that is why we know we need sound forward looking durable energy policy that will help make more stable and predictable for businesses consumers alike. we heard today global demand for crude tops 100 million barrels a day. questions how we are going to meet this moment have caused the price to skyrocket. recovery from the pandemic isn't the only driver, nor is this only a domestic issue as we know other packers influence supply including russia's unprovoked and unjustified war in ukrainian. in this moment, president biden and the administration are using the levers we have to confront the crisis head on.

the release from the spr of 180 million barrels will hope close the inventory gap. the federal government should be using every tool we have to address this crisis and should be doing it all the time. in 2020 i introduced a bill to purchase oil for the spr for when it was under $40 a barrel. if we had these reserves todays our country would be in a better position. as policy makers we need to take energy policy seriously and stop using it as a pill weapon. the stakes are too high. >> the gentlelady's time is expires. >> i yield back. >> we are coming into the homestretch now, people will be pleased to hear. i would like to recognize the ranking member if he has any final questions or thoughts. >> the words and deeds. white house have exposed a fundamental misunderstanding of the operations of an industry it seeks to dissolve. after russia's invasion of ukraine president biden stressed the short-term need to increase

oil and natural gas output and expedite lng project development. the oil and gas industry does not operate well on short-term proposals. due to the nature of the industry companies like the ones before us today need long-term certainty a. temporary greenlight to produce oil from the biden administration will not undo the layers of red tape and aggressive anti-fossil fuel policies driving gas prices to new highs. while president biden should have been working to encourage domestic energy production he went to opec to ask for more oil. since that failed the administration is reportedly considering lifting sanctions so iran and venezuela can increase production. it has become clear that president biden's anti-american energy policies embolden putin. president biden's rush to green agenda involves a whole of government approach that advises multiple federal agencies to play some part in making it more difficult for oil and gas production. for example, the administration has pressured companies to halt investments in possible i will

fuels. there is no denying the fact that the biden administration has promoted an increasingly complex and challenging regulatory environment for energy companies. mr. sheffield, your company is the largest oil producer in texas. you only operate on private land. you don't refine and you don't retail your product. but from your observations, what policy should the u.s. consider to truly unleash domestic oil and gas production? congressman, as i said in my testimony, i wish both parties would come together in a bipartisan effort to look at alternative energy, nuclear, and more pipelines, more lng plants. we need a combination of all of the above. they are all long-term solutions. they are not short-term

solutions. >> general, what are your thoughts? what do we need to do to get this ball rolling to truly unleash domestic oil and gas production in the united states? >> i think it was some of the fellow witnesses in the beginning just talked about an all of the above approach, right? there is no silver bullet solution to energy security, and the interconnected problems that we have been talking about. the critical aspect of this is to do all the above, invest in renewables and so forth, but also to unleash the tremendous power that we have here to meet our own demands but also to help meet the global demand and reduce the course and power of the authoritarian regimes. >> i appreciate that. madam chair, we heard from mr. crenshaw earlier when he went through all the different things that would have to be mined from around the world to continue produce and continue doing in the direction of green energy. we need to do more with green energy. but we need to do it in the united states. to do that, both for oil, gas,

coal, nuclear, and for renewables, we need to make sure that if we are going to have the product to be able to do it in the united states we need a better, a certain, regulatory scheme that lets companies know they can invest here in the united states for all of the above energy. and i yield back. >> i thank the gentleman. and i really do want to thank all the witnesses for appearing today. next time we hope we will see you in person. i think that the ranking member's comments and mr. sheffield, what you said in general, it kinds of shows what's been going on in this committee because we had a robust discussion about the different views of members of congress, democrats and republicans, about long-term energy policy. okay, clearly we need a long-term energy policy. in fact, for some years, mr. mckinley and i introduced legislation to come up with a long-term energy policy.

from my perspective, what we need -- and i think, actually, most of our witnesses would agree with this. we need a long-term energy policy that moves towards clean energy that will keep us independent from foreign oil. and that's what we need to do. but you know something? when my constituents went to get gas in their cars today, they paid $3.95 a gallon. and nationally, they are paying $4.16 a gallon. so we can have all the discussion we want about should we have increased leases, should we have more pipelines, should we eliminate regulations, those dog goning arelations? but as all of our witnesses today said, in their written testimony, and some of them verbally, all of those things aren't going to solve the problem, that my constituents are paying $3.95 a gallon. so what we are seeing today in a

snapshot while we debate theeso tearics of long-term energy policy, we are seeing product at existing wells going down, even though demand has gone up since the pandemic receded. we have seen profits exploding. we have seen shareholder buybacks up by 41%. mr. welch asked the question, did any of you, any of your kptsz companies, talk about reducing these buybacks by even a little bit to reduce the price at the pump? nobody had a response. and we heard ms. fletcher talk about the fact that we could increase output right now without all of these issues about wells and regulations and pipelines. we have the capacity right now. the reason why your companies aren't doing it as you freely and honestly admitted is because you are looking at your shareholder profits. bp in 2021, $12.8 billion. chevron, in 2021, $15.6 billion.

exxon, $23 billion. shell, $20.1 billion. devin, $2.8 billion. and pioneer, $2.1 billion. so at the very beginning in my questions, i asked everybody -- i told everybody i was going to ask the question, what can your company do to help my wentz is, mr. griffith's constituents, and all of our constituents be able to have the price of gas at the pump go down? and n.o.w. none of you could answer that question. now, i said i was going to ask that question again. but i realized, it's just going to be the same thing. none of you actually want to commit to going facebook your boards and your shareholders and saying, you know, along with everybody else, along with many other major corporations, we are

going to take a hit to our profits for now to help reduce the price of gas at the pump. so i am going to ask all of you, do that. go back and have that conversation. do it tonight, or tomorrow. because, in the meantime, everybody else is making sacrifices, but your profits continue to skyrocket. and so i want to remind members that pursuant to committee rules they have ten business days to submit additional questions for the record to be answered by witnesses who have appeared before the subcommittee. i asked that the witnesses agree to respond promptly to the questions if you received them, including the questions that i just asked. there are several documents we would like to put in the record w. nanoconsent i would request it. mr. duncan requested a number of -- rehled to government energy. and ms. bear gone requested an

article from baron's regarding variable dividends published november 3rd, 2021. without objection, these documents will be entered. with that, the committee is adjourned.

the 2022 tax filing season. today's pentagon rethink with folks like joe kirby, he takes questions on the situation in eastern europe with russia invasion of ukraine. later, health and human services secretary xavier becerra, appearing before a congressional committee to talk about the pandemic response and budget issues. ♪♪ washington journal everyday taking your calls live on the air on the news of the day. we'll discuss policy issues that impact you coming up saturday morning, usa today education reporter chris discussing president biden's announcement this week extending the federal student loan payment moratorium through august 31. ♪♪

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words. the role of the first lady, their time in the white house and issues important to them in their own words this week we feature laura bush. >> i will say the first lady here trivialized, our contributions to the united states first lady in many cases are more profound. >> exploring the american story, watch american history tv saturday on c-span2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. ♪♪ >> commissioner charles testified before the senate finance committee, oversight hearing focus on backlog of 24 million returns from the 2020 tax here. ongoing irs modernization efforts. this is about two hours and 15 minutes.