7.64 Billion Dollars
http://www.timberjay.com/current.php?article=1880
And from;
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=52409
The study by petroleum industry analyst Tim Hamilton showed, among other findings, that from January 17th to April 18th 2005 gasoline prices in California jumped 65 cents per gallon and oil refiner profits rose by 61 cents per gallon.
"Oil company profiteering, not increased production costs, are the cause of the price spikes at the gasoline pump," said FTCR president Jamie Court, who served with Hamilton on the California Attorney General Gasoline Pricing Task Force. "Hurricane Katrina will only increase the probability of profiteering."
"The continued failure of California officials to compel refiners to create more refining capacity and increase inventories will result in gasoline prices rising to $4 per gallon relatively soon," stated Hamilton. "The system is rigged for price spikes and the refiners know it."
The study examined the causes of the doubling of the average price of gasoline in California from $1.36 per gallon on January 03, 2000 to $2.72 on August 15, 2005. Among the main findings are:
Increases in the prices charged for oil by OPEC countries are not primarily responsible for the dramatic increase in gasoline prices in California.
California consumers will pay an estimated increase of $15.5 billion more at the pump in 2005 than in 2000 because of profiteering by oil companies and government's failure to act.
No public evidence exists of substantive increases from 2000 to 2005 to oil companies in the cost of a) producing crude oil; b) refining oil into gasoline or diesel; or c) transporting the refined products to market.
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