Just How Expensive is our Gas Versus Gas in Other Countries Around the World?

[MagicMtnDan]

It's getting up there! If/when gas hits $5.00/gallon the US will be the 11th most costly place to buy it!

The following gas prices (in USD) for regular unleaded (per gallon) are from http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lis...bal_gasprices/


Nation City Price in USD Regular/Gallon
Netherlands Amsterdam $6.48
Norway Oslo $6.27
Italy Milan $5.96
Denmark Copenhagen $5.93
Belgium Brussels $5.91
Sweden Stockholm $5.80
United Kingdom London $5.79
Germany Frankfurt $5.57
France Paris $5.54
Portugal Lisbon $5.35
Hungary Budapest $4.94
Luxembourg $4.82
Croatia Zagreb $4.81
Ireland Dublin $4.78
Switzerland Geneva $4.74
Spain Madrid $4.55
Japan Tokyo $4.24
Czech Republic Prague $4.19
Romania Bucharest $4.09
Andorra $4.08
Estonia Tallinn $3.62
Bulgaria Sofia $3.52
Brazil Brasilia $3.12
Cuba Havana $3.03
Taiwan Taipei $2.84
Lebanon Beirut $2.63
South Africa Johannesburg $2.62
Nicaragua Managua $2.61
Panama Panama City $2.19
Russia Moscow $2.10
Puerto Rico San Juan $1.74
Saudi Arabia Riyadh $0.91
Kuwait Kuwait City $0.78
Egypt Cairo $0.65
Nigeria Lagos $0.38
Venezuela Caracas $0.12

 

[Nacho]

Dang....times are tough in Venezuela....

It would be a great day when this happens....not in this administration...or lifetime

 

[iangol]

jim

not sure how old the info you posted is but just to clarify and put a current price to it for you, in the UK regular gas is average today at $8.00 per gallon us funds, here in toronto we are at $5.10 us for 87 and $5.70 us for premium
the Uk is at 130p per liter an actual UK gallon is 4.55 liters over there but for the americans is 3.78 liters per gallon so thats 4.91 pounds a us gallon, exchange rate is at $1.62 as of today,,,,,,, since i came from the UK i have always noted that north america was half the price and as such double the engine size were creeping upto what europe pay slowly

cheers

ian

 

[MagicMtnDan]

The truth behind the President's inaction on this issue (and drilling for more oil on US lands) is that he wants our gas prices to "be like Europe's."

Here are the facts:

Fact: President Barack Obama’s Energy Secretary Steven Chu wants to “figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” At the time he made the statement, gas cost $7 – $8 a gallon in Europe.

Fact: Since taking office, President Obama’s entire energy agenda has made a gallon of gas more expensive:

•Immediately after taking office in 2009, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, canceled 77 leases for oil and gas drilling in Utah.

•The EPA announced new rules mandating the use of 36 billion gallons worth of renewable fuels (like ethanol) by 2020.

•This summer President Obama needlessly instituted, not one, but two outright drilling bans in the Gulf of Mexico.

•After rescinding his outright offshore drilling ban, President Obama has refused to issue any new drilling permits in the Gulf, a policy that the Energy Information Administration estimates will cut domestic offshore oil production by 13% this year

•Interior Secretary Salazar announced that the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic coast, and the Pacific coast will not be developed, effectively banning drilling in those areas for the next seven years;

•The Environmental Protection Agency has announced new global warming regulations for oil refineries;

•Interior Secretary Salazar announced new rules making it more difficult to develop energy resources on federal land.

All of these policies raise gas prices at the pump by either: 1) decreasing the availability of domestic energy supplies, or 2) increasing regulatory costs on gasoline production.

Link: http://blog.heritage.org/2011/01/07/gas-prices-under-president-obama-in-pictures/

 

[Frivol]

yeah, off base base here in germany is about 1.90 Euro a Liter... keep in mind the euro is far stronger than the dollar

 

[frogslinger]

@ Dan...

The US has enough proven crude reserves to supply US demand for a little over three years at current consumption rates. Admitedly we probably have more than that in unexplored/undiscovered areas, but that is getting into Donald Rumsfeld "unknown unknowns" territories. Also, just as an FYI the US is refienry limited not production limited. I live in West Texas where the "best" crude oil in the world is produced (not my opinion WTI crude is lighter- shorter hydrocarbon chains; leads to more gasoline and less tar per barrel and sweeter- less sulfer than oil from Brent or the Middle East)... WTI usually is cheaper than any other oil because all the refineries are running at capacity and so there is less demand than supply (bearing in mind that supply=wells and demand=refiners)... WTI has little in the way of an export market because there is not pipeline to the coast from Midessa... Bonafides: live on the edge of the US' "premiere" current oil field, family in the oil business, specifically pump manufacture

The story gets a little different when you include Oil Shale. The US has far more barrels of oil in oil shale reserves than Saudi had in crude oil. The problem is that oil shale has an even worse environemental impact than crude (think post industrial revoloution style coalmines) and production of hydrocarbons is even more complicated (basically you heat the rocks until they produce something oil like which you then refine)... Last I checked the break even end user price for oil shale is over 100 a barrel. If crude prices stay above that level for a sustained period of time, producing oil shale becomes economically viable.

A side note: If you discount oil the US has a trade SURPLUS. IF oil prices globally remain high, and we start domestic production of oil shale, the US should move back to a trade surplus, even without exporting any oil, which I suspect we would.

My three points are this...1) simple soloutions like "drill baby drill" only make sense to the lowest common denominator, simplistic slogan-soloutions generally are not being implemented because they do not stand up to the realities of application. 2) the global energy situation is very very complex 3) higher gas prices may be a good thing in the long run.

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Thanks Frogslinger.

It is complex and yet it's simple. We have limited numbers of companies involved in the US gas/oil business. And these companies keep chunking out record profits due to ever-decreasing competition and no new refineries. So it may be complex but it's pretty simple. We need more competition, more oil (drill baby drill :mrgreen: ), and more refineries.

Higher gas prices are only a good thing for the oil companies, renewable energy companies, and new small car sales.

 

[frogslinger]

Dan;

You missed two key things:
1) we do not have enough proven crude reserves to make a surge in drilling worth it.
2) we have massive (trillions of barrels) of oil shale, which WILL get utilised if oil (not gas) prices loose volatility and remain high.

The first point means that additional drilling should not be a primary (or secondary or even tertiary) goal... on the other hand current production levels should be maintained. The second point is that whilst it sucks in the short term, high oil prices will almost certainly be a boon for the nation in the long term: either there will be a boost in renewable energy (which is a good thing... leads to domestic energy production and a reduction in the trade defecit and domestic jobs) or a changeover from crude to other oil sources (which is a good thing... leads to domestic energy production and a reduction in the trade defecit and domestic jobs). Deffered gratification is the key to a middle class...

 

[LucasB]

Did you know that there's a rumor that Gas prices will decrease by summer. They say that the average U.S. gasoline price hovered around the $4 mark last week, however experts predict relief by summer, reports North Carolina's High Country Radio network. A 15 percent decrease in crude oil prices may not have impacted fuel costs noticeably yet, however experts like Fred Rozell of the Oil Price Information Service predict that gas costs should start falling soon. Once they do, the decline should remain steady. Here is the proof: Experts predict gas prices will fall during summer.

 

[NoCaDiver]

I may be wrong but using one article as "proof" that fuel prices will go down this summer is not proof at all no matter how many sources it cites.

Then again I can't tell if this is spam, since the account was created today, the post submitted today, hmmmm.

Again, I could be wrong, but skeptical for sure.