The oil patch folk have more power than any congress in any land. I didn't see the show, but I expect it was posturing & posing by the lawmakers, as opposed to actually getting anything done, like - price controls or even a viable energy policy passed as legislation. (Ha ha ha ha)
The other oddity - how many US companies not in oil can afford to build refineries as venture capitalists, but do not? A GE, Microsoft, or any of the huge investment banks could afford a few refineries, then sell them off and make a pile of dough, but they do not. Why? The EPA regs for one. Endless Nimby lawsuits with no help from congress to prevent them for another.
A better question might be, why does congress allow fuel taxes of around 60 cents or more per gallon? 390 million gallons of gas are sold every day in the US. In a year, that's roughly $85,410,000,000.00 in fuel taxes per year.
Then there's the revenue collected on diesel fuel...
