I'd laugh at them too if I was an oil producer. For all the people that actually have anything to do with producing a gallon of gas, they get a collective $0.23/gal profit whereas the collective government gets $0.44-%0.50/gal. Who is it that is really raping the public here? McDonald's Restaurant had a higher net profit % than did the oil companies and they didn't have to testify on the Hill.

Who Really Profits From High Fuel Prices?

Federal Diesel Fuel Tax: 24.4
Maine Diesel Fuel Tax: 26.3
Total Government Revenues Per Gallon: 50.7 cents per Gallon

Federal Gasoline Tax: 18.4
Maine Gasoline Tax 25.9
Total Government Revenues Per Gallon: 44.3 cents Per Gallon:

Refining profit: 10¢
Transportation profit: 9¢
Marketing profit: 4¢
Total Oil and Gasoline Industry Profits Per Gallon: 23 Cents Per Gallon

Source on industry profit figures:
http://www.gravmag.com/oil.html

Disclaimer: I do not own any oil stocks (unless perhaps one of my mutual funds contains some)