From Reuters:

Got gas price fury? Talk to your local Shell CEO
Wed Jun 28, 2006 7:48 AM ET

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Furious about gas prices? Watch for a friendly oil 
executive coming to a town near you.

Top executives at oil giant Shell have begun a 50-city tour across the 
United States this summer in hopes of persuading angry consumers that Big 
Oil is not ripping them off.

The move is the first such effort in the company's history, as major oil 
firms try to dampen a U.S. political firestorm over soaring gasoline prices 
and record earnings for the companies that sell fuel products.

"These are unprecedented times that require unprecedented responses," John 
Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil Co., the company's U.S. arm, told Reuters 
on Tuesday.

Hofmeister and other Shell executives plan to meet with everyone from 
average Americans struggling to pay rising prices at the pump to city 
officials and governors on their tour, which recently kicked off in Dallas.

Notorious for its reclusiveness, the U.S. oil industry in recent months has 
stepped up a public relations campaign to improve its image and thwart a 
growing movement in Washington to slap higher taxes on profits.

"The industry and Shell has a responsibility to explain what we do, why we 
do it and how we do it to the American people, and we don't do enough of 
it," Hofmeister said.

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