WSJ: American refiners have made a pretax profit of roughly $30 on each barrel of oil

[sabra]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118005655192314229.html?mod=home_whats_news_us

<snip>

But while crude-oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange have risen 5.1% so far this year, gasoline prices have surged 47%.

Privately, OPEC members are irked that U.S. refining margins -- the profit refiners make in turning crude into gasoline and other products -- have soared in recent months. Lately, American refiners have made a pretax profit of roughly $30 on each barrel of oil they use to produce gasoline, more than three times the margin in Singapore, a major Asian refining center.

OPEC officials say that if they pump more oil and depress world oil prices, U.S. gasoline prices might remain high, and the result would be even wider refining margins. In essence, OPEC would be putting more money into the pockets of refiners while its own revenue would be hurt by declining crude prices.

Refiners counter that OPEC has played a big role in pushing up gasoline prices. Rayola Dougher, senior economic analyst at API -- the trade group formerly known as the American Petroleum Institute -- says about 38 cents of the $1-a-gallon increase in gasoline prices since mid-January is due to a cut in oil output by OPEC last fall and the resulting higher oil prices.

She attributes the rest of the run-up to a decline in gasoline imports and to glitches at refineries in the U.S. at a time when they are usually building up their inventories to prepare for the summer driving season.

:mad:

[Ilsa]

1. And what's the after-tax profit? $45 a barrel? nt

[sabra]

2. and the WH threatened to veto a bill that took away OPEC's immunity

from lawsuits...