The first thing we need to do in response to these climbing prices is get our house in order. The U.S. needs legislation that addresses our energy problems, provides incentives for alternative energy, improves energy infrastructure, maximizes domestic resources and addresses the fact that the energy crisis we face now isn't going away.

This is a cyclical business and so there is always someone in the supply chain who wins and someone who loses.

It may be possible to push production higher for very brief periods, but the decision to do so must be made by individual companies, which will not compromise the safety of workers.

We're feeling (the crunch) now, but the U.S. has been in this situation for the last five years because of a lack of energy policy, and we need to develop one now.

High oil prices are certainly a drag on the economy, ... Oil is taking money out of the pockets of consumers that could be spent elsewhere, increasing the cost of doing business and the amount of foreign exchange dollars that need be funneled overseas.

This is unfortunate rhetoric from politicians. We're a cyclical industry, earning a fair rate of return for everything we have to do to meet our energy needs, all the money we have to invest, all risk we have to take.

When you start intervening in a market, it starts you down a slippery slope of price controls, marketing manipulation and -- ultimately -- the bad energy policy that we suffered through in the 1970s.

It's a pretty big hit, ... There's no question there will be some very real market impact.

Increasing oil prices directly affects consumers. There are increases in transportation and in the cost of all other goods and services that use oil for production -- from heating a factory to building a road.