Paying at the Pump: Gas Prices Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
1 min
Paying at the Pump: Gas Prices Quiz
Image: John Lund/Blend Images/Getty Images

About This Quiz

Everyone knows that gas prices are skyrocketing, but how much do you know about where your gasoline is coming from? Do you know where the money that you spend on gasoline is actually going? Where can you find the cheapest gasoline in the world? What about the most expensive? Take our quiz to find out how much you know about gas prices.
How many miles do Americans drive each year?
nearly 3 trillion miles
Americans drive nearly 3 trillion miles per year, according to the Motor and Equipment Manufacturer's Association (MEMA). That's about 820 trips from the sun to Pluto and back.
nearly 6 trillion miles
nearly 9 trillion miles

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Approximately how many gallons of gasoline is consumed each day in the United States?
78 million
128 million
178 million
The United States consumes about 20 million barrels of oil products per day (bbl/d), according to the Department of Energy. Of that, almost half is used for motor gasoline. The rest is used for distillate fuel oil, jet fuel, residual fuel and other oils. Each barrel of oil contains 42 gallons (159 L), which yields 19 to 20 gallons (75 L) of gasoline. So, in the United States, something like 178 million gallons of gasoline is consumed every day.

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According to the U.S. Department of Energy, where does the biggest percentage of each dollar you spend on gasoline actually go?
crude oil
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, here's an approximation of where each dollar you spend on gas goes: taxes: 11 cents; distribution and marketing: 6 cents; refining: 10 cents; crude oil: 73 cents.
taxes
distribution and marketing

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What does OPEC stand for?
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Companies
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Cowboys

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OPEC is the single largest entity impacting the world's oil supplies. How many countries make up the OPEC consortium?
33
23
13
The single largest entity impacting the world's oil supplies is the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a consortium of 13 countries: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

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Which one of the following terms is one of the several ways that oil can be classified?
salty
sweet
Sometimes, gas prices go up even though there is plenty of crude oil on the market. It depends on what kind of oil it is. Oil can be classified as heavy or light, and as sweet or sour (no one actually tastes the oil, that's just what they call it). Light, sweet crude is easier and cheaper to refine, but supplies have been running low. There's plenty of heavy, sour crude available in the world, but refineries, particularly those in the U.S., have to undergo costly retooling to handle it.
bitter

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OPEC is responsible for what percentage of the world's oil production?
40 percent
The 13 nations that make up OPEC are responsible for 40 percent of the world's oil production and hold the majority of the world's oil reserves, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
35 percent
30 percent

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According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), in July of 2008, the United States imported approximately how many barrels of oil and petroleum products per day?
1.3 million barrels per day
13 million barrels per day
The United States depends heavily on foreign oil supplies. In July 2008, the United States imported about 13 million barrels of oil and petroleum products per day.
13 billion barrels per day

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Which country is the world's third largest producer of crude oil?
Ecuador
Saudi Arabia
The United States
After seeing how much oil the United States imports, it may be surprising to know that the United States is the world's third largest producer of crude oil. The biggest production region is around the Gulf of Mexico, and the largest producing state is Texas. The Gulf Coast region is home to two important producing areas: the Permian Basin, located in west-central Texas and eastern New Mexico, and the federal offshore portion of the Gulf. Other big oil-producing states include Alaska, Louisiana, California, Oklahoma and Arizona.

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Where can you find the world's cheapest gasoline?
Venezuela
Want the world's cheapest tank of gas? Take a trip to Venezuela, where gas is 12 cents a gallon. At the other end of the spectrum is Sierra Leone, where gas is $18.62 per gallon.
Saudi Arabia
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You Got:
/10
John Lund/Blend Images/Getty Images
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