Now Hear This: How high will gas prices fly?
What did you last pay for a gallon of gas at the pump? A buck what? Makes you sick doesn’t it.
Did you know some people are refusing to pay these ridiculous prices. They are gas thieves. They pull up to the pump (the furthest from the front door) fill up, and speed off without paying for a full tank of gas that can cost as much as $40.
They’re stealing the gas, but who’s stealing our money at the pumps?
I’ve done considerable research on this subject, (I just love finding out how stuff works), and now offer you, the reader-consumer, my conclusions.
Let’s look at whose pockets are being stuffed with our money when we buy gas:
• Crude oil – The biggest share of the cost of gas, about 43 percent, goes to those crude, without any feelings, oil monsters of the Middle East, who call themselves OPEC, which really means, they could care less about “other people’s economic condition.”
• Refining costs – The refining of crude oil makes up about 13 percent of the cost of gasoline. But do they have to refine it to such a high level?
• Distribution and marketing – Guess who pays the bill for this? Crude oil is transported to refineries and shipped from the refineries to distribution points then to your friendly gas station. Transportation costs are, of course, passed along to the consumer. Marketing is also added to the cost of the gasoline we buy. All of this accounts for about 13 percent of the price of gas.
• Taxes – You’re gonna love this. Taxes, including federal and local, account for about 31 percent of the price of gas in these United States no matter where you live. Federal excise taxes are 18.4 cents while state excise taxes are 19.9 cents per gallon. There could be an additional state sales tax, as well as local and city taxes.
• Station markup – In order to remain in business, service stations have to add more cents to make a profit. Do they really? I mean enough is enough already! And, there’s no set standard for how much the stations add on to the price of gas. Some may add a few cents, while others may tack on as much as a dime or more. (Or whatever they can get away with.)
And, now, a special message to gas stations all over America. Jack up the car, not the gas!
I have determined the biggest problem facing motorists today is whiplash! You get it from watching the price of gas go up.
Americans have an insatiable thirst for gasoline, and apparently we haven’t hit our limit at the gas pump just yet. We drive more than 2.6 trillion miles per year in our transportation of choice. That is equal to 14,000 round trips to the sun. The United States consumes an average of 19.5 million barrels of oil per day. And, 360 million gallons of gasoline is consumed every single day, rain or shine. By the way, Europeans don’t have our problem at the gas pump. Why? It’s simple. They drive small cars.
There’s just one thing I’d like to add to the research I’ve done relative to where our money goes for a gallon of gas: My observations tell me where else but in America can you see people who make $50,000 a year pumping their own gas, while a kid gets paid $5.75 an hour to sit on a stool, and watch them?
Is this a great country or what?
(Hope Hines is a television sports reporter and a Nashville personality.)