Angus King tangles with gas lobbyist over Big Oil profits amid record prices

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) on Wednesday clashed with a gas lobbyist, who argued that Democratic attacks against Big Oil are counterproductive to efforts to bring down prices at the pump.

During a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Energy Subcommittee, King called out top oil companies, which reportedly made $35 billion dollars in the first few months of the year, for profiting amid economic pain felt by many Americans. 

Facing Republican calls for the Biden administration to award additional drilling permits to expand domestic production, the White House has argued that thousands of existing permits are going unused, and oil companies could expand production if they so desired. 

Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, said that such attacks were misguided, explaining that producers need $20 million a day of investment capital to “substantially” expand production.

“You’re talking about a lack of capital,” King questioned. “That sounds like a big pile of capital to me.”

Ness pushed back, saying the attacks from Biden and others railing against the fossil fuel industry — as well as the high-profile cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline — were making investors “hesitant” to provide the funds needed to ramp up production. 

King scoffed, saying Big Oil had plenty of capital, but was handing it back to stockholders rather than investing in increased output. And he rejected the idea that the president was scaring away investors. 

“Is your industry really that afraid of Joe Biden,” King asked Ness. “I mean, seriously. You’re talking like rhetoric and comments is going to drive your entire industry. I’ve never known of that before.”

“We’ve been trying to get off of fossil fuels for some time. All of a sudden you’re saying that the cancellation of the Keystone Pipeline, which wouldn’t have come online for years and years, is somehow sending shockwaves through the industry,” King added.

In early June, President Biden targeted Exxon for its profits amid soaring gas prices, saying the company made “more money than God this year.”

“Exxon, start investing. Start paying your taxes,” Biden added. 

Ness said such messaging does have an impact on the industry, and argued that if Biden instead instructed federal agencies “to do everything within the law to encourage and facilitate production,” it would help increase supply, and lower prices. 

“Energy security is national security, and we must not lose sight of that,” he said.