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Where your gas money is going

BY TOM INCANTALUPO | tom.incantalupo@newsday.com

April 27, 2008

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Another day, another high.

The average price for gasoline on Long Island is at a record-setting $3.791 a gallon for regular, says the AAA. And diesel? Fuhgeddaboutit: It averaged $4.648 a gallon.

But where is all that cash going?

According to Ray Dougher, an economist for the American Petroleum Institute, crude oil accounted for 74 cents of every dollar consumers paid for gas, which would work out to $2.765 a gallon, based on yesterday's New York State average of $3.736 for regular. Dougher added that the rest breaks down as such:

n 59.6 cents a gallon goes to state and federal taxes - of which Uncle Sam gets 18.4 cents a gallon, and the remainder goes to Uncle David in Albany;

n 26.2 cents a gallon pays for refining crude oil;

n and another 11.2 cents a gallon goes to distribution and marketing.

And, yes, except for the taxes, each of those items includes profit for the oil industry, Dougher said. Last year's tally was about $123 billion.

But the industry, including Dougher, hastens to point out that those numbers represent a rate of return of only 8.3 cents per dollar of company revenue - a rate lower than those of the beverage, tobacco, pharmaceutical, computer, electronic and chemical industries.

Those who don't buy that argument are not alone. And they'll be outraged again this week when Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Marathon Oil announce how much they made in the first three months of this year.

Experts think $4 pump prices even for the least-expensive regular grade could be commonplace in many areas across the nation in coming weeks, even though a federal government report last week showed increased refinery output. The higher output suggests stronger gasoline supplies and less upward pressure on prices in coming weeks, but the major reason for soaring fuel prices this year has been the rising price of crude oil.

And its price jumped again Friday by $2.46 to settle at $118.52 a barrel, for June delivery, at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Not a record, but close.

DIVVYING THE DOLLARS

If regular gas costs $3.736* per gallon

*Yesterday's New York State average in AAA's daily price survey

$2.765 The crude oil to make it

59.6 cents Taxes

26.2 cents Refining the crude into gasoline

11.2 cents Marketing and distribution costs

SOURCES: U.S. Dept. of Energy American Petroleum Institute