Refining adds about 30 cents per gallon flat, a bit more with additives, higher octane cracks, etc. Here in Texas, it's 20 cents state tax + 18.4 cents federal

Refining adds about 30 cents per gallon flat, a bit more with additives, higher octane cracks, etc. Here in Texas, it's 20 cents state tax + 18.4 cents federal tax Distribution ranges from 20 cents/gallon to well over 2 dollars to far-flung places, this is the explanation behind most regional variance in price, they run pretty lean, maybe cost + 5-7%. (It's a volume play.) So 17 cents crude + 30 cents refining + 38 cents taxes + say 25 cents distribution to Austin gets you to $1.10 and the rest is margin, minus marketing and operating the retail location and you get net profit, typically in the 8-12 cent per gallon range. When oil prices rise, the refiners usually extract most of the profit at the point of sale to distributors / retail. Gasoline is profitable but distributed throughout the value chain.