On 2008/06/13, at 11:39 AM, Bill Hooper wrote:
On 2008 Jun 11 , at 9:10 PM, Pat Naughtin wrote:
... people cannot make a comparison between the price of crude oil
and the price they are asked to pay at the pump.
At today's quoted price of about $135 (USD) this works out to be:
USA Buying price 3.21 $(USD) per gallon Selling price (approx) 4.00
$(USD) per gallon
(Please check these figures for me.)
There is a big gap in your argument here, Pat. You don't produce one
gallon of gasoline from one gallon of crude oil. Therefore, your
comparison of the price per gallon of oil and gas is irrelevant at
least and misleading at worst.
Does anyone know how many gallons of gasoline a refinery can get our
of a gallon of oil? (Or would it be more reasonable to ask how many
gallons of oil are required to make each one gallon of gasoline?) I
know that it varies with the type of oil. But even that wouldn't be
the whole story. The refinery sorts out the various constituents of
the oil and makes use of (sells) most of the fractions it produces.
It is not only gasoline that comes out of each gallon of oil. Many
other things are coming our of the same gallon and most of them have
uses so that they can be sold for more profit.
Dear Bill,
You're right that the price of crude oil and the price at the consumer
pump should not be directly compared. I understand your concern and I
will reconsider how I write about this in future,
However, it seems to me that until you use the same units, say litres,
at each step of the oil pipeline, you are not even able to ask
meaningful questions as to what part of the cost goes where. If you
are simply given a price per barrel, and you pay a price per litre, it
simply doesn't occur to many Australians to ask where the various
costs and profits could and should be allocated. Yet, as soon as these
are both presented in litres, then many relevant questions surface and
require answers. I suppose that my point is more about communication
than it is about the chemistry and physics of refining oil.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/
for more metrication information, contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter/
to subscribe.
