The claims about taxing oil companies exhibit considerable lack of understanding of what is taking place on a global scale. Big oil as some call it is not the problem.
Big OPEC, including Venezuela and other cooperating nations are part of the equation, as they refuse to increase production. This artificially increases demand.
Big China and Big India are booming economically ... and their peoples want cars, and electric plants, and other products derived from oil. With 2 Billion people between them, they are forcing up demand.
BIG oil does not raise prices simply because there is demand ... rather, in order to maintain the supply the west needs (this includes Canada, Great Britain, the rest of Western Europe, etc., it means that the highest bidder wins the oil ... and the oil companies simply pass the cost along.
BIG oil has increased some profits to catch up to normal business levels ... because they have been far behind for decades. But, their profits would not make any more than maybe about 20 to 25 cents per gallon were they to go non-profit ... that is hardly enough to make a dent in the huge increases caused by OPEC and BIG China and BIG India. Also BIG China is building reserves to catch up and surpass the US reserves, which means they are buying far above their actual domestic and military demand.
THE sad truth is that we have enough oil in the USA to fuel all our own needs without buying any oil ... and we could do this as we convert to hydrogen fuel cells for cars, as well as solar, wind, and nuclear for electric power needs. The problem ... you guessed it ... and it is not the President who has no real power to enact these needed changes ...
It is the demands, or lack thereof, of WE the BIG People ... why? Because we the BIG People have our collective BIG heads in the sand as we blame our own oil companies. We the BIG People are not carefully studying the issues as much of the rest of the world laughs at us. We the BIG People also can stop driving our polluting cars, and simply demand busses and trains or move to locations closer to our jobs where we can walk ... we can demand hybrid cars, electric cars, and hydrogen cars ... but do we? Will we? Perhaps when the price of a gallon reaches $8 to $10 per gallon or more ... wherever the magic point is that motivates us to demand real change.
First off the reason gas prices are so high is do to Big Oil companies not upgrading their refineries. In fact letting one in Texas City explode do to safety equipment the wasn't up to snuff. This despite obscene profits. Then add in inflation and you start to see what is really going on price gouging.
OPEC is owned except for a few hold outs by the USA and Big Oil. In fact the only thing OPEC has done through the years without US approval was drop the US dollar as the only method of payment for oil ( at the urging of Venezuela, Iran, and Saudi Arabia ) and that was because even a numb skull could see problems with the US dollar inflation and the rise of other foreign currencies as competition to the dollar.