Pumping profits.

The Federal Trade Commission was already investigating possible price gouging following Hurricane Katrina when oil companies began reporting record profits. Senators on both side of the aisle--Arlen Specter and Barbara Boxer--are united in their concern. So the Business Journal asks:

Do you see a link between oil company profits and high gas prices?

Kraig Kojian President and Chief Executive Downtown Long Beach Associates

The profits that Exxon is showing, I think it's obscene, to be honest. Unfortunately I don't know that industry well enough except the fact that we are the consumer, we are the end of the line, so obviously it's coming from us. I think the future is going to be mass transportation, and living closer to where you work is going to be an alternative for many people. We're trying to create center cities that are self-sufficient. Obviously with gas prices accelerating at the rate they are, center cities are becoming more conducive to the "live, work and play" lifestyle and many employers will look at it the same way too.

Steve Renshaw Partner Rice & Renshaw APLC 

Oil companies will take as much profit as they can reasonably, and that is unfortunate for the consumers. Profits are the result of business over the last several months. It's a delayed effect. At this point oil companies are probably getting a bigger profit than otherwise and maybe taking advantage of perceived shortages. But I think that, by and large, the prices reflect the market. A lot of their money comes from spot market circulation. Another large portion for purposes of accounting is a reflection of exploration and discovery of new reserves. Having said that. I still think they are making unusually high profits.

Donette Lamson Vice President, Turf Horticulture and Landscape American Soil Technologies Inc.

It seems as if gas prices are way too high, especially in California. If we could regulate a little here it would help a lot. We're also going to see a change in fertilizer prices going up. I think it's because we haven't established any caps. We should establish more caps as to what's fair and what's not fair. How do you find a win-win situation? I think we have certain caps on other utilities, maybe oil should be considered a utility. But I don't think that's going to go over either. I don't know that they're ever possible.

Michael Peikoff Vice President, Licensing 20th Century Fox Television

I think the big oil companies are truly inflexible and often miserly with their pricing policies. They move up or down pennies whenever the oil index apparently does, while the independent gas stations seem to offer much more competitive and consumer-friendly prices. When there is obviously an opportunity to charge less, why does Exxon never seem to give their customer base a price break? I've never seen the big oil guys reward customer loyalty despite the fact that doing so is such a common business practice in so many industries.

Eusebius Lai Project Manager Information Sciences Institute

Oil companies should be concerned about how consumers are and how the economy is doing, because they provide a much needed resource. Emergency workers are not allowed to strike because they are necessary. I don't think Exxon should be allowed to continue to increase profits while gas prices are so high. I don't like it. From what I heard after Katrina, you can't really do anything about the oil, but you can do something about refinery capacity. I think the U.S. should invest more in building more refineries so we can produce more capacity.