Rising gas prices have revived resentment toward West Virginia's 32.2 cents-per-gallon tax. But as The Charleston Gazette reports, "for the 2008-09 budget, the gas tax is projected to bring in $380 million - by far the largest source of state funding for highway construction and repair. All other state vehicle taxes, registration and fees will account for less than $258 million."
26 March 2008
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It is interesting to note that. But more important is the fact that the 32.2 cents is a very minor amount of the overall increase in the price of gas. The most pricey change has come from the oil manufacturing companies. Their profits account for more than $2 per gallon. 6 times the amount the state is bringing in. Check out this post for more on where your gas dollars are going: http://www.heathensonline.com/2008/03/24/why-arent-we-more-angry-about-gas-prices/
60% of our oil is imported and the current cost of those imports is over $100 per barrel (about $2.50 per gallon). Add to that the state and federal taxes (over 50cents per gallon) and there's not much left for refining costs, distribution and profits. There's certainly not $2 per gallon left as fade suggests.
The $100 barrel of oil is distilled down into many different products, among them items like plastic and gas. The $2.50 per gallon of Oil does not directly correlate to the same amount in what we pay for gas. Refining, distribution, etc. does come out of the $2 I mentioned above, as well as the costs of actually finding the oil. The Oil companies are making Billions and Billions in profits on the $100 barrels of oil. The same barrels that cost $60 2 years ago and much less 2 years before that.
Nice try, fade. Perhaps it would help to take an accounting class. I challenge you to show why "The $2.50 per gallon of Oil does not directly correlate to the same amount in what we pay for gas." It's clearly an expense which must be paid by the refiner for raw material in order to produce gasoline.
Look here for a breakdown of what comes out of a barrel - http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/whats_in_barrel_oil.html . The actual $$ amount for one gallon of gas could be estimated at $2.38. Less than $2.50. But the more important point is that the price of a barrel has climbed disproportionate to the costs of getting the oil. Just because the oil sells for $100 a barrel, doesn't mean that the people selling that oil aren't making more than a $2 per gallon profit. That is the point I'm trying to make. That same barrel sold for $60 2 years ago. It's almost doubled in price. Where is that extra money going.
Oh, and thanks for the math snub. :)
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