The United States government has historically (regardless of administration) helped lower the price of oil for domestic consumption by giving middle eastern oil-producing nations, particularly Saudi Arabia, US treasury bonds. While in years past this has helped reduce what we pay at the pump, the value of the US dollar and economy overall has declined to the point where those treasury bonds are all but worthless. Do the math. Still, we are able to keep fuel costs lower than the rest of the world because we do produce oil domestically and refine it domestically.
The reason profit was so "low" last year percentage-wise is because these companies were busy pursuing upstream business - exploration and drilling. So is the case with any profitable but limited resource, especially when the resource is becomign more and more difficult (read: expensive) to find.
Staggering that ExxonMobil's net profit was roughly $1300 per second in 2007. Don't know how much of that went back into the US economy as money or jobs.
So I find myself driving a little less and maintaining our cars a little better than before, and anticipate that fuel economy will be a top priority for our next new car.