The rise in the price of gasoline in the United States continues to cause concern, alarm calls and other criticism of the Bush administration. It must be said that the context is conducive to such turmoil, gasoline consumption is doomed to increase while the always awaited "driving season" began this week ... As in any critical situation, we must find a goat emissary, and some comments or analysts have recently denounced the perverse effects of the implementation of a policy promoting the production of biofuel ... In other words, the increased use of ethanol would discourage the construction of new refineries in the United States and therefore fuel the rise in prices at the pump ...
The reality is that the price of gasoline is much more correlated with oil prices than any other factor. According to the American Department of Energy, the price of crude today explains 53% of the price of a gallon of gasoline (against 47% in 2004).
Simultaneously, distribution and marketing costs represent only 9% of the price of petrol; and, above all, refining costs and taxation only impact 19% of the price per gallon ...
It is therefore quite quixotic to point the finger at biofuels ... The real causalities are obviously elsewhere.
And with regard to American refining capacity, the real problem is, on the one hand, that the majors prefer to invest abroad and, on the other hand, that the American population, won over by environmentalism, adopts more and more an attitude called BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything) ...
You can't have your cake and eat it, and as a result, the price of gasoline will continue to trend up ...
Seen on: http://www.econologique.info/index.php/ ... boursorama
ps: if kk1 has understood the BANANA attitude, some explanations would be welcome Would it be the American descenders?