Carissa S News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> reporter: while president biden has vowed to investigate price gouging by oil and gas companies -- >> this is no time for profiteering or gouging. >> reporter: they are calling on them to make it easier to ramp up production which crash in the 2020 because of the pandemic. but some economists claim some oil producers are strategically stalling to keep gas prices high. they're currently sitting on more than 9,000 unused drilling permits for u.s. land. >> the suggestion that we are not allowing companies to drill is inaccurate. >> reporter: the u.s. energy information agency projects u.s. cru...

Because we can't afford to. >> reporter: economists say price hikes are the expected result of oil supply and surging demand. while that squeezes people like carissa, oil companies are making record profits. a watch dog report found last year as gas prices surged, 24 of the world's largest oil coils made $127 billion in profits. >> americans were. >> reporter: paying more at the pump and executives are getting richer by the day. >> when your ability to sell your product is more than double what your costs are to produce oil, you're going to experience massive profits. that's exactly what we're...