Re: Price and profit of gasoline

Glenn <minorgo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:pan.2006.04.30.12.18.35.69879@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

On Sun, 30 Apr 2006 01:15:37 -0700, Rubaiyat of Omar Bradley
wrote:

<<Anything over twelve is profit, so at seventy dollars a
barrel, the seller makes fifty-eight dollars which
translates into a little less than one dollar and forty
cents per gallon at the pump.>>

Your calculator must be broken... a barrel of crude oil
only yields about 19.65 gallons of gas, along with a lot of
other stuff of varying values. Here is the breakdown:

"Crude oil is measured in barrels. A barrel of 42-U.S.
gallons of crude oil yields slightly more than 44 gallons
of petroleum products. This "process gain" of volume is due
to a reduction in the density during the refining process.
In 2004, one barrel of crude oil, when refined, yielded
19.7 gallons of finished motor gasoline, as well as smaller
quantities of many other petroleum products."

They don't give away the other twenty some gallons, it has
the about same profit margin and they have a certain freedom
at the refineries as to the mix of products. The other
products include anything from jet fuel to plastics. My
number is as correct as possible given the trade secrecy of
the refineries and the noted profit margin of the
refineries.


They do not "give" away the material.

Just what do you think causes the oil to get to 1000 F for the
still or craker?

They BURN part of the material.

So the 44 gal value only appies if you do not have to account
for the energy that is actually used to separate the products.
The reality is that some of the feedstock goes up in smoke.

That remaining feedstock blend of products then is sold for the
maximum overal price.

Once upon a time the profit center was kerosine, throwing the
gas away as worthless. Today it is things like the heavy cokes
that are low value. You have to make your money from the high
price item, so figure most of the the cost has to be recovered
from the 20 gal of gasoline and the diesel/fuel oil.
.

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