14 weeks 1 day 8 hours ago Senators grill oil company execs in D.C. Play video

(NECN) - A Senate panel Wednesday demanded answers from big oil executives regarding the soaring cost of gas.

NECN's Peter Howe has details.

Script:

With oil at record highs, and Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy in the chair, Senators grilled executives from the top five oil companies.

Leahy: People we represent are hurting. Your companies, the foreign oil interests, are profiting.

And on behalf of motorists, Senators vented rage. There was even a little politics, too.

Now, as sometimes happens on Capitol Hill, senators and businessmen talked past each other. Executives tried to stress their profit margins have actually gone down as the price of crude oil, their raw material, has gone up.

Stephen Simon, Exxon Mobil: Our profitability last year was around 10 cents a gallon. Now it's down around 4 cents a gallon."

"It's not our profitability in this business that's driving the higher prices that consumers have to pay. It's the raw materials."

Gas prices in New England are breaking records every day. The newest Triple A survey shows gas ranging from $7.75 in New Hampshire to $4.06 in Connecticut. Some of that spread is state taxes.

If you're a trucker or drive a diesel import -- ouch. Diesel is now $4.59 in New Hampshire and up to $4.80 in Connecticut. That's $1.70 on average higher than last May.

Stephen Simon Exxon Mobil: There are so many factors that go into establishing that price, supply and