In response to the Sunday letter, “Companies control costs, not Cantwell,” which demonized big oil and held Sen. Maria Cantwell blameless for the current cost for gasoline, the writer has it exactly backward!
Do the math! At a crude oil cost of $75 a barrel the cost of unleaded gasoline roughly breaks down as follows; $1.70 raw material, 60 cents refining costs, 41.4 cents in federal and state taxes (close to the national average), distribution costs, miscellaneous government fees, environmental costs and shrinkage, 25 cents. That totals $2.964 a gallon and we haven’t talked about costs and profit for the retail vendor!
With the big box stores retailing regular at $3.12, where are they gouging us? Higher grades cost more because they take more (not free) energy to refine and produce less product.
So, I’m off by 5 or 10 cents on my estimates, so what? Even if they are dipping into their reserves and getting crude for less than the current cost, so what, they have to replace those reserves.
I’m not a spokesperson for big oil, I’m just a chemical engineer who ran a business for 20 years and I know when I’m getting taken and when I’m not. As far as I’m concerned, Bill Clinton took us all 10 years ago when he blocked drilling in ANWAR, because by now we could have added 10 percent to our domestic supply. And Cantwell is directly responsible for perpetuating the problem for our kids by blocking drilling in ANWAR or offshore.
For those truly concerned about the environmental effects, look at the minimal long term effects of the north slope oil fields. Then realize that current technology vastly reduces the drilling footprint from those days. Is it worth jeopardizing our economic future?
Curt Greer
Marysville
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