High Gas Prices Create Criminals
More and more Americans have the answer to skyrocketing gas prices: Just steal it. [Reuters]
According to the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, gasoline theft is becoming a huge issue across the country. Motorists drive up, pump their gas, then speed away without paying.
It�s gotten so bad in some areas that gas stations may revert back to the old �pay-before-you-pump� rules of the 1970s.
Last year, for example, gasoline theft cost the gas industry $134 million. (Experts say it would have been a lot more, but many stations went to pay-before-you-pump rules after the post-Katrina gas-price spike. [NACS Online]
Before you stick it to the man and rip off your gas station, know this: It�s not their fault. In fact, motorists in New York were asked how much profit they thought their gas stations were making off them filling up their tanks. One person guessed $1.25 a gallon. Another guessed $.65. The reality? Less than a dime. [CNN]
Here�s the breakdown: For every gallon of gas, 72% goes to the big gas companies (like Exxon and ConocoPhillips), 13% goes to taxes, 8% goes to refiners, and 8% is split between marketing, distribution and the gas stations.
Stealing from your friendly neighborhood gas pumps isn�t the only crime fed by recent gas price hikes. Now the mob�s involved. [Reuters]
According to Attorney General Mike Mukasey, international organized crime has decided it wants a �taste� of all that money generated by high oil prices.
Mukasey said a new Justice Department investigation found the global mafia groups �control significant positions in the global energy and strategic materials markets.�
Mukasey: �They are expanding their holdings in these sectors, which corrupts the normal functioning of these markets and may have a destabilizing effect on U.S. geopolitical interests.�
Interesting fact: Gas thefts go up not when prices are high, but when they are first raised, showing it�s more a crime of anger than anything else.
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