Global Gas Prices

[IamIan]

Thought this was interesting.

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/ar ... s-So-Cheap

As of April 1 2008 in US $.

High price for Gasoline:
1. Bosnia-Herzegovina $10.86 / per gallon

Allot of Europe is over $8 per gallon.

Lowest price for Gasoline is:
1. Venezuela 12 cents / per gallon

[Dgate]

One remark in this article is stupidity personafied......

[But those cheap gas prices - which Americans have gotten used to - mean they feel price spikes like the ones we're experiencing now more acutely than citizens from other nations which have had historically more expensive fuel.]

This statement insinuates the price in Europe does not rise equally,how naive,poor Americans.I can tell you now as an American in the UK it hurts even more here than back in the USA.
Increased tax on gas here has always encouraged production of economical cars.Everything is relative though so when the price of a barrel goes up that efficient car is more costly to fill just as in the states.
The updated price is $10 in the UK for 1 imperial gallon.

DGate

[IamIan]

I just find it interesting ...

some countries are under $0.25 per gallon still... while others are well over $10.00 per gallon.

And the U.S. at around $3.70 now around RI per gallon... when people talk about how horrible the gas prices are and how rising gas prices make everything more expensive... the places where Gasoline is over $10.00 per gallon is the kind of thing the U.S. can expect to see in not too many years off...

.... And yet even at $10.00+ per gallon those countries have not hit the social melt down that some people predict comes with high gas prices... And those countries also still have thousands of people buying SUVs and other low MPG vehicles.

[jack9994]

Current thinking is that UK prices could get to $15 by the end of the year - we need another Insight equivalent (or better) very soon - all the car manufacturers are still offering cars that can do no more than 60mpg at best and wont get much better in the short term

[b1shmu63]

Lord help us the day it costs $120 to fill up an Insight in Britain!!I'm trying to imagine what it would cost to fill up something like a Land Rover.

[TonyGoog]

While this information is very interesting, I would be more interested in seeing a comparison of how many miles are driven (average) per person in a day in these countries. Seeing the gas costs side-by-side with how many miles are driven would give a good look at how much people are actually paying to drive their vechicle.

For example, my uncle told me the other day he could care less how high gas prices go. However his commute to and from work is ~10 miles. At $10 per gallon he'd pay around $160/month on gas to/from work.

My drive on the other hand is ~100 miles to and back from work each day. At $10 per gallon I'd be paying around $1200/ month on gas to/from work. This is unfortunate because there is no public transportation (or really any other option for me other than finding a new job, which isn't likely with our current economy & number of lay-offs occuring).

While it's all fine and dandy to say that the USA has it easier than other countries as far as gas prices are concerned, I'd be willing to bet the average US citizen drives further daily than people in most other countries.

[boogetyboogety]

So, assuming you drive 100 round trip and you have weekends off, you're driving ~22 days a month and anticipate your gas bill to be $1200 at $10-a-gallon gas.

$1200 @ $10 gallon = 120 gallons.
2200 miles / 120 gallons = 18.33 mpg.

Wow... you need an Insight!

Or something that gets better mileage... lots better mileage...

You're right about other countries/citizens not having the vast distances to conquer that we are so used to in the US... and they also have the advantage of superb public transportation in place (which we absolutely don't, outside the eastern corridor).

And I believe that many are in the boat you're in, where suddenly those rural denizens who live out in the boonies and thought nothing of driving 40 miles to get groceries when gas was $1.50, $2.00, even $2.50 a gallon, are now thinking... good God, why did I get that [SUV, big sedan, sports car, et al] for everyday driving instead of a more fuel-efficient car...?!?

You have my sympathy and wish you nothing but the best... I do believe we'll see $6-8/gallon gas sooner than later, and definitely $10 a gallon if Iran starts playing around scuttling ships in the Strait of Hormuz...

[TonyGoog]

Originally Posted by boogetyboogety

$1200 @ $10 gallon = 120 gallons.
2200 miles / 120 gallons = 18.33 mpg.

Wow... you need an Insight!

Yeah I know I need an Insight Soon.. I'm grabbing a part-time 2nd job here shortly to buy it. It's not easy to buy a house and a car simultaneously.

The numbers aren't far off actually. I work Saturdays here and there. My '92 Olds definitely isn't cutting it anymore (not that it ever really did..).

[Armin]

from TFA

Americans have taken advantage of cheap gas prices to do other things - like buy bigger cars and bigger houses further away from city centers

That's the point: The lower gas tax in the US has "fueled" what even the president recognized as an addiction to oil. With higher cost of gas, the share of larger vehicles as well as the suburban sprawl would have been less extreme, lowering consumption overall - and - making the economy less vulnerable to price spikes.

It doesn't mean European countries are less vulnerable to fuel price increases because it's more expensive to start with. That's nonsense. They're less vulnerable, because fuel is a lower portion of the economy, which is a direct consequence of decades of high fuel prices.

Here is someone copying my old line of "gas is too cheap". I guess it's better late than never... Another recent argument I can't find the source for is "wouldn't you rather pay a gas tax that goes to your own government, than the high gas price that goes to the Saudis, Russians and Venezuelans that aren't necessarily our best friends?"

[uhtrinity]

I feel fortunate as I live about a mile from my place of employment. Most people around here drive anywhere from a few miles to 60 miles. Unless we as a country switch from gas it will be hard to sustain this lifestyle.