CNN recently ran a story (Mar 14) about “dissecting a gallon” of gasoline, from a cost perspective. Of course, they use government numbers, which in my mind, that makes the numbers suspect. (Like the balanced budget, government spending and who’s really paying taxes. More smoke than substance.) Anyway, their drawing shows the costs break down for each gallon of gas you purchase. (The drawing is by the US EIA, not CNN.)

The article also points out that the oil companies don’t really make all that much money on crude, which is the biggest cost in the mix.

Now I’m no economist, but how can a “qualified news journalist” working for a huge media conglomerate like CNN say that stuff with a straight face? CNN’s own web site has numerous articles covering the record oil industry profits. Some how “refiners” got their own price catagory when refering to oil production and big oil.

According to the story “Profits for refiners have been squeezed lately because the price they pay for oil has risen so much faster than the price they can sell the gas for. This helps explain why Big Oil companies -like Exxon, which actually buys more crude oil than it produces - haven’t seen their profits rise as much as the price of oil.”

Holy cow, or, cow pies, depending on your preference.

I believe that someone who would write something like that would lie about other stuff as well! Ever heard of r-e-s-e-a-r-c-h?  … Continued … »

Talk about taking it on the chin! Here’s info on last week’s gasoline and oil prices from the DOE web site. There’s nothing more confusing than trying to read through the the smoke screen bellowing out of Washington. Here’s a good example where all the “anal-y-sis” in the world won’t change the fact that the cost of petrol is going to take a huge chunk out of everyone’s budget. Let’s see, gas is climbing toward $4 per gallon and bread will be hitting $4 a loaf real soon now. You think Washington has a solution? Sure it does … raise taxes!

Here’s where you can get more information on the government’s view of petroleum prices, demand and consumption.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip.asp#

Here’s some interesting information on crude oil and gasoline prices. The US government tracks fuel costs and makes projections of future costs.

Get more information at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/info_glance/petroleum.html.