According to a report by The Associated Press, oil refineries are padding their pockets with added profits from rising gasoline prices. While that may not surprise many, it certainly weakens the oil companies' defense that slim profit margins limit their ability to cushion the blow of rising oil prices.

According to the report, the average profit margin for oil refiners has grown by 85 percent since 1999. In the seven years prior to that, the refiners' margins increased by just 20 percent. The study also found, not surprisingly, that gas prices increase at a higher rate than they decrease. Since 1999, a gallon of gas cost an average of 6 cents more for every 10-cent rise in oil prices, but fell just 4 cents for every 10-cent decline in oil prices.

Using volatile market prices as an opportunity to increase profit margins on an essential resource like gasoline is irresponsible and possibly dangerous.

Unfortunately, the nation's refining capacity is dominated by just a few large companies (the top 10 refiners control 75 percent of the market). That means a relatively few companies can hold back supply and boost prices, and some consumer advocates claim the nation's refiners have done just that, according to AP. But the federal government says it's OK for a company, not an entire industry, to limit production to influence prices.

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It's easy to be outraged at the oil companies. What's difficult is finding the prudent solution. Price controls are not the answer -- the free market is the foundation of this nation's economy, and no one should question the right of oil companies to earn a profit, even a massive one. At the same time, oil companies' hunger for ever-increasing profits is hurting the average American and has the potential to devastate the overall economy. Theirs is a unique industry in that they peddle a product Americans and the world depend upon.

Keeping margins steady would still offer mind-numbing profits given the ever-increasing demand for energy products. At the same time, such a strategy would offer some protections for consumers and the economy. So would holding oil companies to their word by encouraging them to follow through on promises to reinvest profits. Those promises, at present, seem hollow. While oil companies are taking advantage of a volatile market, this nation is complicit in encouraging and concealing that behavior by making it extremely difficult for oil companies to expand production.

While oil companies should earn responsible profits without taking advantage of consumers, this nation should ease the burden companies face to increase capacity. That means opening new oil fields for exploration, relaxing permitting rules and easing some environmental regulations for new refineries. Doing so would reveal Big Oil's true intentions and leave it no excuses for allowing gasoline prices to spiral ever higher.