The bosses of Britain's six biggest energy companies told MPs the only control they had over the price of gas was deciding how much they were going to charge people for using it.
Paul Golby, chief executive of E.ON, said: "Given the volatile nature of the current market and the knock-on effect of high oil prices, it's very difficult, at this stage, to predict how much more money I'm going to want.
"As a very rough, ballpark figure I would say I'm probably going to want about 40% more money."
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| These things aren't cheap, you know |
Sam Laidlaw, chief executive of Centrica, told the Commons enterprise select committee: "Russia, oil, global demand, gigantic yacht. I'm sorry did I say 'gigantic yacht'? I meant 'shortages'."
But Andrew Duff, chief executive of Npower, said it was impossible to pinpoint the exact cause of rising prices, adding: "It's totally the Russians' fault. They're all gangsters, you know.
"I met this Russian guy last week. You should have seen the size of his house. Christ on a f*#king bike! And he's got a leopard in his garden. I want a leopard."
Mr Laidlaw added: "You there, more champagne!"
if only it werent so realistic.