When people talk about "subsidies" to oil, what they really mean is lower retail taxes for gasoline at the pump. This isn't for the benefit of oil companies, i

When people talk about "subsidies" to oil, what they really mean is lower retail taxes for gasoline at the pump. This isn't for the benefit of oil companies, it's to placate voters, who want to pay less at the pump. It's not as if the US government is running around dropping truck loads of cash into insanely profitable businesses. And no, if gasoline had higher taxes, that would not be absorbed by the oil companies. It would be passed on to the consumer just like every increase in oil prices is. Gasoline has a very flat demand curve.