With the cost of gasoline rising again and industry analysts warning that the coming summer could see $3-a-gallon prices similar to last year's, Republicans face a Democratic opposition committed to making it a campaign issue in November congressional elections and the prospect of voters angered by higher fuel costs.
In an attempt to pre-empt that, House Speaker Dennis Hastert scheduled his first meeting of the day today with American Petroleum Institute president and chief executive officer Red Cavaney, according to Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean.
''The message is basically that while it's not the American way to punish success, Americans have the right to hear from energy companies what they're doing to ensure a stable and affordable supply of energy,'' Bonjean said.
''Are there plans to invest in additional refinery capacity in the U.S.?'' Bonjean asked. ''What are the plans of oil companies in regards to investments in new supplies of oil and gas? What are they doing to bring down the costs? Because people are receiving their bills in the mail now during winter time and they're higher than they were last year.''
Hastert's scheduled meeting was reminiscent of November when Congress hauled in chief executives of the nation's largest oil companies to explain the spiraling gas prices amid widespread charges of price gouging.
With some on Capitol Hill then demanding that a windfall-profits tax be imposed on the oil industry, Hastert told oil executives that wasn't his preference. Such a tax was imposed on the industry during the 1980s.
But he suggested that congressional momentum for such action could grow if lawmakers felt pressure to act and the industry didn't take effective steps to curb rising fuel costs.
Tax legislation currently in the Senate Finance Committee and any new excess-profits tax could, if pushed by many members in the Republican-controlled Congress, cause an internal rift since Republicans see themselves as the party of lower taxes.
John Felmy, the petroleum institute's chief economist, said a windfall profits tax would be a mistake. ''There's no windfall. That's the fundamental problem with that argument,'' he said.
Oil company profits are huge because the companies are huge, the product of oil firm mergers in the last few years to be more competitive globally, he said. Exxon Mobil's profit, including $10.7 billion in the fourth quarter, was on average slightly more than 10 cents on a dollar of gas, he said, while other oil companies that have reported end-of-year profits already were closer to 9 cents.
He said a large percentage of the securities of the oil companies are owned by investors in their personal 401(k) retirement savings accounts, state teachers' pension plans and mutual funds.
''Saying there's a windfall and you're going to take it, is akin to believing that our companies are owned by space aliens,'' Felmy said. ''Somebody owns them and somebody's going to get hurt.''
Bonjean said the House Energy and Commerce Committee would be ''looking into'' higher energy prices. ''It would be wise for oil companies to engage the public and Congress to work with us in helping to address these high prices at this time,'' he warned.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said President Bush, in his State of the Union address tonight, would not be referring directly to the record oil profits. Instead, McClellan said, ''he'll talk about what we need to do and the kinds of alternative sources of energy we need to look to.''
The president's energy-industry background, as well as that of Vice President Dick Cheney, has led White House critics to accuse the Bush administration of favoring oil industry profits at the expense of consumers.
''The president thinks what's good for Exxon Mobil is good for America,'' said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. ''Most Americans, when they saw $3 gas, didn't.''
