What’s behind that $3 A GALLON By Cynthia Dermody

Today’s gas price have a lot of us wondering what behind the cost and who’s making money off our woes.
Amount $1.65
Who get it?
People who drill, transport and sell crude oil (the raw ingredient of gas), including Middle Eastern companies, but also American firm like ExxonMobil and Chevron.
Why?
It cost these folks 12 to24 cents to produce a gallon of gas. So why do they get $1.65? It isn’t because they set the price. They don’t. Oil is traded like any commodity in the financial markets. So oil companies, investment fund managers, banks, airlines – anyone who has an interest in oil – are behind the pricing. “All commodities are up, particularly gold and silver, but we don’t get so fired up about them because they don’t really impact us”. There’s plenty of oil, but not enough refineries to turn it into gas (many were damaged by Hurricane Katrina). This year’s hurricane season and other world events will determine whether prices rise even more.
$0.60
Refineries
It’s what they charge to thermally heat and molecularly crack the oil, turning it into gas.
$0.45
Governments, which tax 30-70 cents a gallon, based on where you live.
The feds get 18.4 cents for every gallon; your state and local government get rest to pay for roads, bridges and clean air initiatives. For instance, California state laws demand only the cleanest gas, so those residents pay more.
$0.14
Gas station owners
Most stations with big names like Mobil are actually owned and run by individual owners, not the companies whose names they bear.
From Reader’s Digest