US regions and for some states, so you may be able to look it up for your particular location as well. Yeah, were being taken to the cleaners. Take a glance at this article I just read this morning. The sharp rise in gas prices has contributed to record high profits of the major oil companies. Rising fuel prices have put an increased burden on working class families. In fact, crude prices have been fluctuating in recent weeks, but are about at the same level they were one month ago. In the past week, they have actually declined significantly, even as gasoline prices have continued to escalate. There have been indications of decreased refining capacity. Although gasoline inventories rose by 400,000 barrels last week, for the previous 12 weeks inventories were in decline, down a total of 15 percent since February. 1990s, due to a deliberate policy on the part of oil companies, US refineries have been operating near capacity.

Outages like those that occurred in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in late 2005 have a large impact on gasoline inventories and have consequently driven up prices. Typically, refineries are shut down in the spring, usually justified on the grounds of regular maintenance and repairs. This spring has seen additional outages with a fire at a major refinery in Texas and other major supposedly unplanned outages. Among the reasons given for the rise in gas prices, one of the more plausible is the most simple: price gouging. Many Americans felt at the time that the sudden drop was related to the upcoming elections and the attempt to limit pessimism over the economy by temporarily reducing gas prices. This would presumably have had the effect of improving the chances of the Republicans in the elections. Large energy companies certainly feel they have an interest in maintaining Republican control of the government. 40 percent of US refineries. With the absence of additional refining capacity and no government regulation on gasoline price, there is ample opportunity to control gasoline prices. The concentration of ownership of gasoline refineries is such that unplanned refinery outages at one or two corporations can have a significant effect. The Texas refinery that caught fire in February supplies the US with 15 percent of its gasoline.

Whatever the cause of the present increase in prices, there is no question that refineries are benefiting greatly as a consequence. This is the second widest margin recorded in history, according to the new york Mercantile Exchange, and is double the margins from a year ago. The profits of the major oil companies are presently at record levels.

Of the five top oil companies all but BP show an increase in first quarter profits from the previous year. 10 percent from last year. These profits are ing direct out of the pockets of the American population as a whole. Lacking alternatives in transportation, workers have had to accept the higher gas prices. The rising price of gas has already shown its impact on consumer spending. Forced to pay higher gasoline prices, workers have cut back on food, clothing, cars and other consumer goods. April, the first decline in seven months. The sharp rise in gasoline prices and the corresponding profiteering of the large oil corporations has led again to a series of symbolic measures and proposals from congressional Democrats.