Milton Copulos testified in late March, 2006 at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "The Hidden Cost of Oil" with updated projections on his original 2003 report.
According Copulos, who is a senior fellow with the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security and with the National Defense Council Foundation:
"Adding up the above, the hidden cost of oil imports skyrocketed to $779.5 billion in 2005. That would be equivalent to adding $4.10 to the price of a gallon of gasoline if amortized over the total volume of imports. For Persian Gulf imports, because of the enormous military costs associated with the region, the "hidden cost" was equal to adding $7.41 cents to the price of a gallon of gasoline. When the nominal cost is combined with this figure it yields a "true" cost of $9.53 per gallon." Worse, he sees the costs for 2006 totaling a staggering $825 billion.
"This would bring the "real" price of a gallon of gasoline refined from Persian Gulf oil to $10.86. At these prices the "real" cost of filling up a family sedan is $217.20, and filling up a large SUV $325.80." (Darell's note - this is for 2005)
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