SPOKANE -- Officials with ConocoPhillips oil company were in Spokane Thursday evening for a town hall meeting.

KREM.com

Gas prices in Spokane have dropped only a few cents in the last couple of weeks.

ConocoPhillips represenatives are on a tour of several cities talking with concerned residents on everything from high gas prices to hybrid vehicles, and exorbitant oil company CEO salaries.

Carin Knickel, Vice President of Human Resources with ConocoPhillips, says the U.S. needs a new energy policy, mostly because the country is too dependent on foreign oil.

Knickel also mentioned that Americans must conserve more oil and gasoline in order to meet the high demand.

"The price of gasoline is driven by supply and demand," said Knickel. "Right now supply and demand are running very much neck and neck."

KREM.com

Carin Knickel, Vice President of Human Resources for ConocoPhillips.

Still, frusterations from drivers at the pump are at a high with gas prices in Spokane still hovering around $2.99 per gallon, and around $2.83 in Coeur d'Alene.

Knickel told KREM 2 News the regional prices are fitting at this time.

"What is too much? You can talk to people that have traveled over to Europe and compare the price they pay in Europe to the price we pay here in America," said Knickel.

According to its website, ConocoPhillips makes $0.10 for every gallon of gas when prices are near $3.00. The rest of the money goes into buying crude oil, refining it, transporting it, and taxes.

Last year ConocoPhillips made more than $15 billion in profits. Most of that, Knickel said, is put back into the company.

Recently, a director of a non-profit fuel association claimed in the Spokesman Review newspaper that ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil limit supply to Spokane in order to drive up the price of gasoline.

"I would say that's absolutely false," said Knickel. " The interesting thing you can find about ConocoPhillips is we are a high-integrity organization."

As of Thursday night, AAA reported the average price of gas in Seattle as $2.87 per gallon.