Senior, to be making making the most money they have exer made in the history of the industry they have to be getting it from somewhere, hence if their profit margins are going down in retail, which they are, they are making it up in the rest of their business ventures.
And stock, for the most part is meaningless, look at the tech bubble. Sun micro systems was once trading at $130 a share, now it trades at $10. Stock price, like i explained earlier is determined not by rational thought and analysis, its being determined by Jim Cramer, and people who watch "the street" instead of doing their own research.
It wasnt always that way, but that is the nature of the market right now.
They are making record profits because the US is consuming record amounts of gasoline. I find it incredulous that you refuse to believe jmh80 who works in a Refinery. But I'll add (since I also work with Oil and Gas Refineries) that their profit margins have decreased in the past 5-10 years. They are cutting costs left and right, running on skeleton crews, automating systems all because their margins are decreasing and they are attempting to squeeze every nickel out of their process (which is what successful companies do).
Take a look at the refining companies out there and research a little thing called "Crack spread". This is the difference between the price of crude oil and the price of the commodity made from that crude oil. You want lower gas prices. Build new refineries in the United States, but Congress won't allow that. Take a stab at a little research and find out when the last refinery was built in the US, or maybe Jmh80 will feel inclined to enlighten you.
Drilling for oil here in the US or off the coast will help alleviate the cost of your gasoline, only if we refine it in the US. Did you know Iran is a large producer of crude oil, but they have ridiculous gasoline prices? Want to know why? They have to export the crude, have someone else refine it, and import the gasoline back in.
While the US is sitting on its hands, building no new infrastructure, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and other Middle Eastern companies are spending billions of dollars upgrading their refineries to product Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel, and gasoline.
Next lets address the alternatives...
Nuclear Power is viable, but no one wants one in their backyard because of ignorant fear.
Solar Power is not viable, because the current efficiency rate of buildable and sellable units has yet to climb above 28%.
Wind Power is viable, but its expensive as hell and requires fairly high wind velocities to work, not to mention space. And the public is all for wind power as long as it's not near their home.
Corn to Ethanol as fuel, don't make me laugh. Any self-respecting chemical engineer will tell you that entire thing is a sham. South America gets away with it because they use sugar cane. There are some viable alternatives through the use of micro-algae as well, but that requires you to still drill, refine, and supply gasoline as well.
Electric Cars is not currently viable and would require a HUGE change in infrastructure to make it viable. There are other fuel cells in development that may yield results, but electric isn't the answer.
Hydroelectric has its uses, but there aren't enough rivers to make that viable.
Coal, Natural Gas, and Crude Oil are your products like it or not. For the next two decades at a minimum the world will continue to rely on those three, because technological advances don't happen over night.
Last but not least, I'm going to gently refute your comment on the market. Stocks are not meaningless. The majority of the time they are based off of P/E ratios, market cap, among other simplistic methods. Jim Cramer has ZERO effect on the market. Even with all his viewers, he can't shift a stock much beyond a percentage point or two and they always rebound back to where they were before his latest show. The tech bubble was part speculation, part everyday joe's jumping into the market without doing any research, and a large part over valuation. It was bound to return to normalcy, it is not a good reference for the stock market in general as your post suggests.
So there is another chemical engineer's "opinion" on the industry that you are currently talking about (from someone who works in said industry). You can't limit our current resources because you don't like them and you want something else. That's not the way the world works my friend. Thats like saying "No one is allowed to have any more microwave dinners, because it's getting expensive and its not good for your body's "environment". You all must change to fresh, homecooked meals because it's a better alternative". When you know very well that the microwave dinner is currently cheaper, easier, and more abundant. (perhaps not a great analogy, but I'm an engineer not an English major)