Guess what folks, have I got a bombshell to lay on you people concerning gas prices.....
And it ain't the Arabs putting the screws to us either.
Alright, at present, a barrel of crude costs $72.66 or $1.73 a gallon of unrefined crude oil.
So, your gas prices breakdown as follows
$1.73 cost of crude oil
$0.62 cost of refining the crude oil into gasoline
$0.18 Federal gasoline tax.
$0.20 State gasoline tax... california is $.18/gal.
$2.73 at the refinery prior to shipping.
$0.129 cost of transportation
$2.859 cost per gallon at the pump in Abilene TX
Now then, everyone remember when gas was under $2. a gallon? Well, guess what, nothing has really changed EXCEPT inflation.
However, the oil companies are really screwing one group of Automobile owners big time. I mean, these people being screwed without a kiss or any KY jelly.... You could say that the Oil Companies are committing economic RAPE.
You see, aside from #2 bunker oil and tar, there are two other WASTE products made from crude oil...
Want to guess what they are?
How about Diesel and Kerosene. Thats right folks, if we didn't have diesel and jet engines, the stuff would just be used to heat houses.
You see, when they run crude oil through the refinery, the oil goes into what is called a cracking tower. This heats the crude to allow it to break down to all its useful products, lighter products on top, heavier on the bottom, and leaving the left over garbage products at the very bottom of the tower, the three products I mentioned.
Now back in the 1970's, Diesel cars and pickup trucks were very rare, in fact most Diesel fuel was used in highway transportation, so the cost per gallon was 48 cents.
Then there was the fuel crisis of the early 80's, Reagan pissed off OPEC and they raised the price of oil per barrel, and to top it off, Reagan set a price cap on 'old' oil in the US.
Suddenly, everyone wanted a Diesel car or truck to save money. Oil company executives ain't stupid. They saw what was going on and got together and said, "You know, the average car owner has no clue where diesel comes from, we can screw them blind price wise." And so, the barbed wire wrapped economic adult phallic toy came out, and every owner of a diesel powered vehicle got reamed.
This price cap essentially locked the price of oil coming from established oil fields at pre-1984 prices, so it was financially impractable to produce from these fields.
Now, any new oil fields discovered either within the United States, or within its territorial waters could be produced and sold at the current market price.....
Now, here is the problem with that.... With the exception of two known fields in the US, and the ones in Alaska, there ARE no new oil fields within the United States.
Now, you are going to ask, "Well, what about the two fields not in Alaska?"
Well, one is under the Del Rio plate, and very VERY deep. However the Del Rio plate is made up of broken up bedrock, primarily granite which is about 20,000 feet down. It is the same kind of geologic mess you find along any major fault...(yep, Texas is another one of them states that is just waiting for the Big One. The major problem is this fault ain't moved since before the spainish got here)
The other oil field was discovered in Oklahoma, below a natural gas field that is so deep, it takes five years to drill one well.
In other words, with the present technology, we cant get at the oil down there. (By the way, I am not sure which Oil Exploration company is offering it, but there used to be a $10,000,000.00 reward for anyone that could come up with a cost effective way to get through the del rio plate.)
Now then, at present, the major fields in West Texas are, for the most part, not producing. Most of the wells drilled between 1982 and 1985 have been plugged, the old wells pump just enough to pay the mineral rights to the owner of the land the well is on, figure 0.00000003% of the total domestic production.
Now, the people that benefited from the Reagan move are the same people that are benefiting now, every stuffed shirt that plays the futures market. I.E fat cat wealthy republicans.
That, my fellow Cherry Tappers is the facts of life concerning gas prices, and the rape of the people who drive diesel powered cars and trucks....
You know, I do believe that there used to be a law about charging extreme prices for the left over waste products of a manufactoring process...
