If you own producing wells the cost is mostly constant other than transportation; if the price goes up, you make more money. Pricing for gas is different, the p

If you own producing wells the cost is mostly constant other than transportation; if the price goes up, you make more money. Pricing for gas is different, the price is dependent on the price of crude, the availability of refining, the distance from refining to the pump, and demand for driving. Thus the price fell off of a cliff during the pandemic since no one went anywhere. The price of crude is dependent on demand and supply. The price of crude was $20-25 lower before the war started which is likely more economic; it went up because Russia is a large supplier and losing/reducing that supply caused the spike. People love to blame a market when the price goes up and forget to blame the market when the price goes down. At one point during the pandemic the futures price crashed below zero. No one complained. You may not like oil companies, but oil is about as basic a market as you can get as long as there is no collusion (aka cartels like in the 70's). Arguing we should no longer use crude for burning is different; I'd rather see renewables to provide energy and heat.