10-14-2008, 02:43 PM
If you figure a cost of $80 per barrel that equals a cost of about $1.90 per gallon for the cost of the crude out of the ground. Add refiner, transportation, marketing, retail profit costs of about $.55 cents per gallon and taxes of about $.47 per gallon and the price is closer to $2.92 per gallon. Oh, I forgot the special formulation for Chicago so add a few more cents and you get $3.00 a gallon.