The knee jerk reaction from most Americans would probably be “big oil!” But CNN has an interesting article dissecting where the money you pay for gasoline goes for, and the reality is that big government, and not big oil, is the one getting rich.

The government takes about 40 cents right off the top, with about 18 cents going to the feds. State taxes vary widely, but the national average is about 22 cents a gallon. . . .

About 24 cents a gallon goes to refining companies like Valero (VLO, Fortune 500), Sunoco (SUN, Fortune 500) or Frontier (FTO, Fortune 500) that specialize in turning crude oil into gas. Some companies like ExxonMobil (XOM, Fortune 500), Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) and ConocoPhillips (COP, Fortune 500) produce and refine crude oil.

Profits for refiners have been squeezed lately because the price they pay for oil has risen so much faster than the price they can sell the gas for. This helps explain why Big Oil companies -like Exxon, which actually buys more crude oil than it produces - haven’t seen their profits rise as much as the price of oil.

CNN attributes most of the profits from gasoline to crude oil producers, and while that’s true CNN did leave another aspect out: Regulatory, usage and royalty fees paid to the government.  Crude oil may be at $110/barrel right now, but it can cost as much as $70/barrel to actually get it.

And of that $40/barrel profit the oil companies still have to pay things like income taxes, payroll taxes, etc.  These taxes are so high that oil companies are often left paying more in taxes than they take in profits.  As CNN notes:

While Exxon made over $40 billion in 2007, a 60% increase from 2004, it paid over $100 billion in taxes and royalties.

Read that a gain to it sinks in.  Exxon paid more than double the profits Democrats deem “excessive” in taxes and royalties.

More than double.

So the next time you’re filling up at the pump, don’t grouse about “big oil.” Grouse about “big government.”