Hell hath no fury like motorists filling up their tank with ever-more expensive gasoline. Over the last nine months, gas prices have climbed in most Alberta cities just like they have in the rest of Canada. Motorists are understandably ticked.

A lot of consumers' anger is directed at the big bad oil companies. That anger, however, is misplaced. A close examination of the facts shows that it's our governments, and not Canadian producers who are gouging us at the pump.

Time then for a rundown on some basic gas facts. The pump price is determined by four costs: One - the crude oil cost; Two- the refining margin (the cost of refining oil into gas plus profit); Three - the marketing margin (advertising costs, the cost of running a service station, transportation costs, plus profit). The fourth component of the per-litre price is tax.

Let's start with the crude oil cost. Back in early 1998, a barrel of oil cost $13.50 U.S.. That has since jumped to $30.

As for the difference between what a barrel of oil costs and what refineries receive after they process it (the refining margin,) MJ Ervin & Associates reports the average margin in Canada was 5.8 cents a litre over the past year - the exact same average as five US cities surveyed during that time. In February, the average Canadian and US margins have both dropped to 5.6 cents despite higher overall prices at the pumps.

What about the marketing margins - the difference between what your gas station will pay and then charge you Thanks to competition, the mark-up in Calgary, on March 14th for example, was 5.1 cents per litre. That's lower than the 52 week average of 5.9 cents per litre. Local gas stations are actually making less money with higher oil prices.

So crude oil costs are way up and refining and marketing margins have stayed the same or declined slightly. And taxes

Right now, about 36% of the cost of filling up the tank in Edmonton is the result of federal and provincial tax. That might seem odd, given the fact that the tax component was about 42% of the pump price a year ago.

But no, gas taxes have not gone down. Federal and provincial taxes are fixed and must be paid regardless of whether gas prices are up or down, while the GST paid fluctuates with the total price. As a percentage of today's gas prices, taxes are only smaller as a percentage because the basic price of the product - i.e., the oil - has skyrocketed.

End result Current high pump prices are due to two factors: higher per barrel oil prices and historically high fuel taxes. (The federal excise tax has gone from 5.5 cents a litre in 1987 to 10 cents today and the provincial gasoline tax has gone from zero to 9 cents a litre over the same period.)

Want lower gas prices Don't hassle your local service station owner. You'd be better off to badger governments to lower gas taxes and then pray that OPEC members undercut each other. Those two entities are the ones raking in your cash.