Posted June 11, 2008 6:00 AM
Good morning.
Here are a few Washington events of note for Wednesday, June 11.
President Bush, on his European trip, is meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming is holding a hearing on the future of oil with Energy Information Administrator Guy Caruso and others.
The Army is unveiling the Future Combat System Manned Ground Vehicle, the first vehicle type in a family of eight new Manned Ground Vehicle types that are being developed.
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Comments
Speaking of Bush in Germany...I happened upon a German news program this morning. While discussing Bush's visit with Merkel, the anchor asked a guest what he thought Bush's legacy will be. The guy stumbled badly about what to say at first. He ended saying that he will be known for destabilizing the Iraq-Iran area by going to war in Iraq to secure the oil. Interesting what the rest of the world thinks.
Posted by: lochnessmonster | June 11, 2008 7:07 AM
Below is the breakdown of a gallon of gas in california. After tax refining profits are about 7% of revenue (see public financial statement filings of any oil company). So $.035 or 3.5 cents a gallon is refinery profits (compare that to 69 cents in taxes). The rest is their cost (payroll, energy, plant maintenance etc). They can reduce cost by laying off workers and refining less. But that gets us gas shortfalls. If government takes away half of the refinery profit through a windfall tax, the price of gasoline drops just under 2 cents a gallon, if they pass on those savings to us in form of tax rebate. Once again Congress is doing nothing but pandering to the voting masses who did not do this analysis. It sounds good but it will do nothing for the price of gasoline. Drill, refine, nuclear, synthetic fuel (my german made car uses synthetic oil - I change it every 10,000 miles),conserve and incent innovation. That will bring the price down. Not
windfall profits tax. But I would love a 69 cents decrease in gas price through elimination of government taxes. The just under 2 cents a gallon for refining profits does nothing for me.
9-Jun-08
Distribution Costs, Mayketing Costs and Profits $0.02
Crude Oil Cost (goes to saudia arabia, venezula, $3.20
mexico, canada - but not u.s)
Refinery Cost and Profits $0.51
State Underground $0.01
Storage Tank Fee
State and Local Sales Tax $0.33
State Excise Tax $0.18
Federal Excise Tax $0.18
Retail prices $4.43
Source: CA Dept of Energy
Posted by: Anonymous | June 11, 2008 7:40 AM