I'll tell you what. In my inaugural speech, I'm going to serve notice on the oil companies and on the oil producing countries: that we are not going to be taken advantage of any longer, that we are going to once again be in charge of our future.

And I can tell you what'll happen.

You know, the oil producing countries and the oil companies will have a conversation. They have a cartel in case you haven't noticed.

And they'll drop the price of oil because they figure they've done it before, they'll do it again. They'll take the political heat off. Everybody will say "Oh, great, did you see how much the gas price has fallen? Oh, we don't have to worry about this anymore."

It's like the old story about how to boil a frog. You drop a frog in boiling water, it jumps right out. You drop it in cold water, you turn the heat up - you've got a boiled frog before too long. We have been the boiled frog in this story, for decades.

Well, not on my watch. We are going to get out of that pan and we're going to be back in charge. And we're going to show the world what we can do when we put our minds to it.

Clinton said her White House agenda would include environmentally friendly policies that would create millions of jobs. But she said the plan "also recognizes the continuing vital role of the oil and gas industry," another huge Houston-area employer.

She said she voted for legislation to expand oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico because she backs such projects that have local support and are environmentally sound. Obama voted against, she added.

"I think on that issue alone, I should be able to make a strong case to the energy community" for support, the New York senator said.