Oil Hits Record Highs as Americans Hit the Road

May 19, 2008— -- As Americans were getting ready to hit the road for Memorial Day weekend, the price of oil hit a new record today at $127 per barrel, and the situation may get worse before it gets better.

According to today's numbers, gas is now over $4 a gallon in Chicago and pretty close to that figure in Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle, San Francisco, Cleveland and New York City.

Driving on Memorial Day Weekend? ABC News wants to hear from you.

The angst and anger over these prices has politicians in Washington on high alert, hauling big oil executives before the Senate Judiciary Committee this Wednesday. Today, the oil industry was playing defense.

"There's no question that it's a burden to consumers," John Felmy, chief economist of the American Petroleum Institute, said of the high prices. "And what the industry is doing is working very hard to supply energy as cheaply as possible."

But Felmy also admitted that the oil industry is awash in cash. "They are making huge profits, they admit it."

Also today, the White House criticized Congress for not doing enough to ease the pain.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Scott Stanzel suggested Congress was "going from Band-Aid to Band-Aid that they think will have an impact, but really won't."

President Bush today signed a bill to halt the filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but said it wouldn't accomplish much to ease the pain for Americans.

That pain is being felt across the country. ABC News is getting flooded with messages from viewers like Rosaria Giamei, who said, "I even stopped filling a much-needed monthly prescription that costs $45 so I will have more money for gas."

ABC News found Giamei in Massachusetts today, fuming at the oil companies and bemoaning the changes she has had to make in her personal life.

"Last week, I had to pick up the prescription and I got to the window and they said, $45 and I was like, 'Oh, my God,' so, it's still sitting there waiting for me to pick it up," she said. "I'll probably pick it up next paycheck to kind of even things out a little bit.

"I don't really get out and enjoy things anymore, I just kind of sit at home and go to and from work and grocery shopping and that's it," Giamei said.

Giamei is adopting measures to minimize her fuel use.

"My entire ride to and from work, I look at the gas tank to just see how much fuel it's using and it really is amazing," she said. "So, I'm even trying to drive below the speed limit to use less gas, and it's just a constant looking at my fuel gauge to see how much gas I've used, so, as soon as it goes below half a tank, I think, 'Oh, my God, I have to put gas in my car again.'"

In an e-mail, Brenda Hensley told ABC News that the price of diesel fuel is putting her husband's excavating business in peril.

"We can't raise our hourly rates enough to break even, and realizing a profit is no longer an option!" she wrote.

When we tracked down Hensley in Indiana today, she said Hensley Excavating may simply close up shop after 32 years of operation.

"If things continue as they are, it means that we're not going to have a business much longer," she said.

One analyst told ABC News today that the price of gas may come down in July or August, toward the end of the summer driving season, but it will never go back down to anything like $2.35, a price that angered people three years ago.