Gas

• “If everybody in America inflated their tires to the proper level, we would actually save more oil than we’d get from drilling.” President Obama on the campaign trail in 2008

• In North America alone there is enough oil to fuel every passenger car in the United States for 430 years.

• Only 3 percent of federal lands are currently leased for oil production.

• The Obama administration’s permitorium in the Gulf has resulted in 57 percent fewer deepwater permits, a 68 percent reduction in shallow-water permits, and a 50 percent reduction in plans that gain approval in the year-to-date.

• The U.S. is the third largest oil-producing nation in the world, behind only Saudi Arabia and Russia. Our total recoverable oil resources are more than six times the proved reserves of Saudi Arabia.

• In fiscal year 2011, oil production on federal lands decreased by 11 percent, while oil production on private and state lands increased by 14 percent.

There are four main drivers behind the price of gasoline. First, there is the cost of the crude oil (an 80% factor). The second significant cost of gasoline is taxes-- federal, state, and local (a 14% factor). Third, the cost distribution and marketing, which includes pipelines, transportation, delivery, and retail sales (a 3% factor), and the final cost is refining (a 3% factor). The distribution of these components changes based on many factors including the market price of crude, the environmental requirements that refineries must comply with at different times of the year, adverse weather affecting operations, and the tax structure of state and local governments.

Click here to see what we pay for in a regular gallon of gasoline.