EDITORIAL OIL GLUT.

BACK when Hurricane Katrina approached the Gulf Coast and energy prices skyrocketed, officials at the big oil companies insisted that they weren't profiting on the nation's misery. Rising costs explained rising prices, they said, not gouging.

But that seems hard to believe in light of Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell's recently reported record profits of $9 billion or more.

At the very least, it seems that oil companies gladly cashed in during a time of crisis. But seeing that competition between them didn't seem to do much to alleviate prices, it's also fair to ask whether collusion played into the equation.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says he wants to call in oil executives to testify on Capitol Hill, as well they should. They have a lot of explaining to do.