Should we blame gas companies or the government for high gas prices?

Lots of posts on Reddit these days are accusing gas companies of price gouging. People believe that it’s the fault of greedy corporations that prices have spiked, and the government should step in with price controls (or something like that). See here

This doesn’t add up to me.

For one, prices are up across the board, which isn’t due to corporations. It’s because the government printed an enormous amount of money in the past two years, so there is more money chasing fewer goods, which causes prices to rise.

Also, the current administration is explicitly anti-fossil fuel and has halted pipeline projects and ended drilling leases. Not saying if this is good or bad, just saying that this sort of thing will raise energy prices.

Also, why would prices only be spiking now? Energy companies exist to make money, so if they had this magic ability to price gouge the public, why is that only happening now?

And energy markets are competitive. If a supplier raises their prices for no reason, their competitor will get more business. There’s no way that all of these companies are deliberately doing this all at the same time, with no company not choosing to undercut the others and make bank. Even if they did, that’s illegal, there’s existing laws to prevent this from happening.

What’s the counterargument? I don’t really get it. I just see the potential for government overreach that would lead to more shortages by discouraging the private sector from satisfying demand.