Where Your Gas Money Goes

The document analyzes how money spent on gasoline is distributed among stakeholders, finding that the majority goes to oil companies rather than local stations or the consumers themselves. It argues that drivers can save thousands of dollars over a vehicle's lifetime by choosing fuel-efficient or hybrid vehicles instead of continuing to fund oil company profits.

• The majority of money spent on gasoline goes directly to oil companies. For a typical US driver with a vehicle purchased in 2011 (averaging 22.8 mpg), approximately $15,000 of the estimated $22,000 lifetime fuel cost goes to oil companies.
• Other stakeholders receive a small fraction of gas expenditures: 14 percent goes to taxes for roads and transportation, 10 percent to refining, and 8 percent to distribution and marketing. Local gas stations earn very little from fuel, averaging only three to five cents of profit per gallon.
• Owning stock in oil companies provides negligible financial return relative to the cost of gasoline. For example, spending $1,700 a year on gas from ExxonMobil would yield less than a penny in earnings for someone with $20,000 invested in the company.
• Investing in fuel-efficient vehicles provides significant lifetime savings. A Ford Fusion SE Hybrid may cost $3,500 more upfront but can save nearly $9,000 in fueling costs over its lifetime.
• Reducing oil use through efficient technologies and innovative solutions could cut projected oil use in half, resulting in savings of more than 11 million barrels of oil per day by 2035.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2013). Where Your Gas Money Goes. https://www.ucs.org/resources/where-your-gas-money-goes

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Where Your Gas Money Goes. 2013. https://www.ucs.org/resources/where-your-gas-money-goes.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Where Your Gas Money Goes |date=3 January 2013 |url=https://www.ucs.org/resources/where-your-gas-money-goes |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2013where, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Where Your Gas Money Goes}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2013}, month = jan, url = {https://www.ucs.org/resources/where-your-gas-money-goes}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }