Many of us may think we have a pretty good idea where the gasoline we need comes from, and most us are darn certain we’re paying too much for it.

But after you view Chevron’s YouTube video, I think you may be surprised to learn some of the things Chevron has to say. Some of you might dismiss the video as nothing but Chevron propaganda, and you couldn’t be more mistaken. It’s a candid explanation of how we get the gas we use and the logistics and dollars needed to drill the oil, refine it into gasoline and sell it to you.

It’s concise and it’s worth your time because of the light it sheds on the whole process... For instance, did you know that…. Most of the crude oil we drill is drawn from deep below the ocean floor, it’s not extracted from the Texas plains the way it was first extracted? The bulk of that “easy oil” has already been found and produced, says James Cearley, petroleum geologist.

[Of course these days, of course, it’s off-shore. Way off-shore. 200 miles or more into the Gulf of Mexico, to reach significant oil fields of 100 million barrels. It takes 10 to 15 years from the initial exploratory well to first production and costs anywhere from $1 billion up to $4 billion for that “floating production system” which is basically a small city. And, many oil companies have dozens of such systems under way at the same time.

Did you know an oil field is often more solid than liquid? To capture that oil your equipment is needed 10,000 feet deep and you’re drilling down 7 miles below the ocean’s surface.

Get the oil out of the ocean and now you’ve got to refine it. Those complexes stretch across thousands of acres to produce diesel, jet fuel and gasoline and other petro products such as kerosene and heating oil. A small refinery can process 240,000 barrels a day. That’s 10 million gallons. How much is that? Kevin Mertes, a Chevron refinery engineer, says that if you had a football field awash in oil, it would be 30 feet deep from end zone to end zone! Want to run a refinery? It costs hundreds of millions of dollars to build and maintain a refinery 24/7. Now you have to move that fuel by tanker truck or pipeline.

Eventually it gets to the gas station. Want to open one up? The experts say you’ll need about $3 million on average.

And most gas stations are not owned by large corporations like Chevron… Debbie Gold, a sales manager says the profit margins are slim and that’s why fuel is sold in convenienc e store settings that often have car washes and fast food as additional revenue streams. She says profits from fuel sales are modest and might earn the same profit from a cup of coffee and a donut as they would from a 15-gallon fill-up.

It all means there’s much more to gasoline than meets the eye. Click on the video to see the whole thing:

How Gas Gets to Your Tank