E'town gas prices soar

www.zwire.com By: Andrea Kiliany Thatcher March 06, 2003

Surprisingly, gas prices in Pennsylvania are eight cents lower than the national average. However, consumers won't be surprised to find that the average is more than 50 cents higher than numbers for the same time one year ago.

      While the national average is currently $1.67 for regular unleaded fuel, Pennsylvania is hovering around $1.59. This holds true for Elizabethtown in specific. At press time, $1.59 is the highest price in the group of stations sampled.

      Of the stations sampled, Citgo and Mobile had the highest prices at $1.59 for regular unleaded, $1.69 for middle-grade, and $1.73-$1.75 for high octane.

      Shell was slightly lower with prices of $1.58, $1.66 and $1.69. In the middle with $1.57, $1.65 and $1.73 was Turkey Hill.

      The lowest priced gas among the sampled stations in Elizabethtown at press time was found at Giant. Their prices were $1.55, $1.62 and $1.68.

      The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that gas prices are at the highest since 2001 and have been rising steadily for more than nine weeks. Some explanations include the colder-than-expected winter, a strike in Venezuela and worries about the war with Iraq.

      When paying so much more for gas, consumers become more concerned with where that money is going.

      Thirty-seven percent of your money goes towards the crude oil itself. This is determined by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

      Taxes make up twenty-seven percent of the price of gas. Federal excise taxes are 18.4 cents per gallon, and state excise taxes average around 19.96 cents per gallon. State sales tax, as well as local and city taxes, are sometimes added to this.

      The cost of refining the oil makes up about twenty percent of the price paid at the pump. Less than ten percent of the price is attributed to distribution and marketing. The crude oil is transported to the refinery, the resulting gasoline is shipped to distribution centers and from there it goes to gas stations. The cost of all this transportation, as well as that of marketing a particular brand of oil, is passed along to the consumer.

      Station markup, the money a service station adds to the price they pay in order to make a profit, is usually only a few cents but sometimes up to ten cents. There is no standard for how much is added.

      Taxes and local competition are the biggest factors in the difference of prices from state to state, region to region. Stations closer to the oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico often have lower prices, as well as areas with lower environmental standards.