How much does each party make from the $4.33 a gallon in CA?

. OPEC or non-OPEC oil producing countries %?
. Oil companies %?
. Refineries %?
. Oil commodity traders %?
. Gas stations %? 4%?
. Who else?

U.S. refineries have limited capacity, that leads to gas price jump within U.S and within regions like CA.

But oil commodity price has increased from I still remember $26 to $130 a barrel. No, the exchange rate didn’t change that drastically. No, the demand of oil in China grows 7.5% a year and India grows 5% a year and the world demand grows 2.5% in 2008. To me, the $130 a barrel price just doesn’t add up.

Oil producing countries don’t produce enough, and the traders keep on bidding up the price, so my assumption is the oil producing countries and traders are pocketing most of the money.

If the oil companies are currently paying the low cost of oil which the price is protected by long term contract signed years ago, and yet they charge much higher price to the consumers, they would pocket the price differences – that would be big money and big profit.

This post by Megan McArdle is an excellent overview of supply and demand in the gasoline market:
http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/price_elasticity_of_gasoline_a.php

It also discusses why the proposals by two of the presidential candidates to temporarily repeal the gas tax are entirely futile. If the public is willing to pay $3.50/gallon of gas, the result of lowering the gas tax will be for refineries and gas stations to capture that money, not the public.

@Tyler:
The rising price of crude only contributes to oil company profits to the extent that they bought futures at a lower price. The majority of their profit increases come from the increasing demand for gasoline over the last twenty years while refinery capacity has been decreasing:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0921/p11s02-usec.html

The link to Megan McArdle’s blog above best demonstrates the reason oil companies have been so profitable. Once demand reaches the end of the supply curve, prices continue to go up but no new supply can come online. There’s no additional cost to oil companies, thus the soaring profits.

The scooter statistic is interesting. I heard one analyst say that a possible backlash from increased fuel efficiency and movement away from fossil fuels will be even higher gasoline prices because the oil companies will try to protect their profit margins. That seems to fly in the face of supply and demand determining price.

Supermarkets work the same way, doing quite well on small margins, very tight inventory controls, and integrated supply-chain. (Having a convenience store at the station is actually more of the same, even though the margins can be higher, and non-competitive because of the convenience factor. But it takes more investment and attention to operations too, seems to me.)

I also think that focusing on the profits of oil companies is a misdirection with regard to petroleum dependency. It is as if we think nationalizing the oil companies as non-profits would somehow remove the problem. (And removing the gasoline taxes is the wrong feedback signal, too.)

The price of oil is set to the dollar, so prices have risen.

Gas prices in Europe have not changed as dramatically as ours as the Euro continues to be strong against the dollar.

But as Rob said, Oil companies don’t make a very high percentage profit, either.

If you really are a dyed-in-the wool capitalist, why does this make you sick?

Buy stock in ExxonMobile!

The profit margin for oil companies is lower than almost every other business in the US. They’re making something like 8% ROI. Hardly seems excessive. The oil companies make less per gallon on gas than the US government does from the gas tax.