In the last several years United States gas prices have doubled to $3.50. In the next few years the price could double to $7.00. The United States used an average of 385 million US liquid gallons (1.46 gigalitres) of gasoline (petrol) each day in 2005, amounting to 44% of the total U.S. consumption of petroleum products. This corresponds to 18.5 Exajoules per year, or 600 Gigawatts. Western countries have among the highest usage rates per person.Some regions, e.g. in Europe and Japan, impose heavy fuel taxes on fuels such as gasoline.According to national figures from the U.S. Department of Energy, in March 2007, 52% of the cost of gasoline went to pay for crude oil, 24% for refining, 15% to taxes, and 9% for distribution and marketing.