Gasoline Prices?

So true, I paid 1.65 USD for a liter this morning - approximately 6.65 USD for a gallon, so things aren't that bad in the US compared to the rest of the world when it comes to gasoline prices - such as the above posts really indicates.

The lowest price ever in my county was 8.65 nok (1.33 USD) making the gallon 4.9 USD and that is considered cheap.... :?
 
If the price of fuel is too high in Europe, maybe folks need to figure out why and try to change it instead of telling Americans not to complain.
I happened to find this. What do you guys think?
'The reason for recent petrol price rises is the world oil price. The right way to reduce prices - indeed the only sensible way - is to put pressure on OPEC, not to let them off the hook by caving in to blockades here. That is not just the position of the British Government, but the position now of every Government in the industrialised world". This despite UK TAX levy at 86%
The AA says the Government raised £36 billion in fuel and road tax in 1999. However, the Government re-invested only £6 billion. So the cry of better infrastructure and public schemes was just pure ... POLITICS ... How about telling us where's the other £30 billion gone - Millenium Dome! Today its running at £38 billion in tax and less than £6 billion has been re-invested in roads or transport - This is scandalous.
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http://www.see-search.com/business/fuelandpetrolpriceseurope.htm
*UK TAX levy at 86% :shock: It's little wonder why the fuel prices are what they are there.

I also found this.
But why does it cost so much more in Europe than in the United States?

Tax. In Britain up to 75 percent of the cost of a litre unleaded petrol goes on various taxes and duties. In Spain about 60 percent goes to the government, in Belgium it is about 65 percent, France and Germany 69 percent, Italy and the Netherlands 66 percent, while about 55 percent of what motorists in Luxembourg spend goes into government coffers. This compares to approximately a third in the U.S..

(Source: Oil Price Assessments and Royal Automobile Club)

Why such high tax?

Governments, backed by environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth, argue that a higher price discourages wasteful use of what is a limited resource and protects the environment by reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Royal Automobile Club estimates that the British Treasury receives about £35 million a year in vehicle and fuel tax. OPEC argues that western nations should look at their own tax regimes before criticising producers over price.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/09/11/europe.fuel/qanda.html
 
Yes DTop, absolutely. You are right: We pay some taxes on gasoline which are meant to contribute to reconstruction of areas hit by earthquakes in the 60's. We still pay for that. 66 % of what we pay goes to gov't.
 
It is of no secret that the European gouvernments use a wide array of taxes on services and products.

On the other hand uncertain issues abroad (Iraq, Iran, OPEC), natural distasters and the high US import of crude oil and petrol from Europe are other important elements that make the price as high as it is.
 
not saying that this should happen but you guys dont have to trade with us....We cant force you to export YOUR oil but as long as you guys keep giving, we'll keep taking. You say dont complain about oil prices in the States, but here you stand complaining about us.Whats up with that?
 
C/CMSgt Henderson said:
not saying that this should happen but you guys dont have to trade with us....We cant force you to export YOUR oil but as long as you guys keep giving, we'll keep taking. You say dont complain about oil prices in the States, but here you stand complaining about us.Whats up with that?
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"as long as you guys keep giving", you guys who? You mean Norway/UK/Netherlands? Because those are the only European countries that have oil. Italy has no oil, we import it all. And hey we weren't complaining about the US. Why do you want to turn this into some sort of a fight, dude? We were just being sarcastic, you guys complaining gas price is high and we paying 4 or 5 times as much. Still, we weren't bitching you.
 
Oh Im sorry, I cant hear your tone, therefore I didnt know you were being sarcastic. I thought when sunb! said that high US importing makes prices high was a stab at The US...my bad.
 
C/CMSgt Henderson said:
Oh Im sorry, I cant hear your tone, therefore I didnt know you were being sarcastic. I thought when sunb! said that high US importing makes prices high was a stab at The US...my bad.
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That was not a stab on the US at all, it was a comment on the elements on the world marked that influences the oil price. It is a fact that US alone lost 25% of the oil production due to the recent hurricanes and natural disasters - and are dependant on importing oil from Europe to keep their wheels going.

Further, OPEC determ the quantities of barrels that should be produced each year. This is fairly lower than earlier years. Compared with the loss on the US production level there is a shortage of oil on the world marked in general. Including the military operations going on in Iraq and the uncertainty with Iran and Syria, unstable countries in Asia and lots of other things influences the oil price as a whole.

That is what we call marked economy.
 
Once we figure out the equation for worldwide oil prices, we will be close to finding the meaning of life. Look at it this way, if petrol prices weren't so high in Europe, we would never have had the pleasures of high performance but fuel efficient engines. I mean, Cadillacs are okay, but soon you want to feel that Porche under you. It's a whole new world of driving. How many more commercials do you see with beautiful models standing by a sports car than a Suburban? A lot.
 
I wasnt being sarcastic about me saying that i was sorry for mistaking your comment as a stab at the US there sunb! i was being sincere. When I said that i wasnt inferring that it was a stab so please dont get on my back,you dont have to defend yourself further. Besides, most of our oil comes from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, not Europe.As to what missileer said, i agree. The only reason for the high prices is the cars. As to the sexy models...I get enough girls. 1. My girl. The only one for me. I have a stock 01 Toyota Camry.
 
C/CMSgt Henderson said:
I wasnt being sarcastic about me saying that i was sorry for mistaking your comment as a stab at the US there sunb! i was being sincere. When I said that i wasnt inferring that it was a stab so please dont get on my back,you dont have to defend yourself further. Besides, most of our oil comes from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, not Europe.As to what missileer said, i agree. The only reason for the high prices is the cars. As to the sexy models...I get enough girls. 1. My girl. The only one for me. I have a stock 01 Toyota Camry.
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I don't defend myself; I made my point clear. And I do not get on peoples back.

It is just so nice to hear that you drive Toyota 8)
 
I realized your point after the second comment when italian guy wrote all his stuff...You dont have to make the point again after I have already apoligized for it..

Yea my Camry has served me well. Shes got over 110,100 miles on her and she hasnt been to the shop for anything other than routine maintenece that I am too lazy to do myself....
 
C/CMSgt Henderson said:
Yea my Camry has served me well. Shes got over 110,100 miles on her and she hasnt been to the shop for anything other than routine maintenece that I am too lazy to do myself....
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So, it's almost broke in. I had over 187,000 on my Nissan B2200 pickup when I gave it to my Grandson and bought a new truck. It still ran fine.
 
C/CMSgt Henderson said:
Besides, most of our oil comes from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, not Europe.
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For my own knowledge I did seek information on this as I find it very interesting to see the major US trading partners on this issue.

(source http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/...ons/company_level_imports/current/import.html)

The top sources of US crude oil imports for August were Mexico (1.614 million barrels per day), Canada (1.610 million barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (1.444 million barrels per day), Venezuela (1.299 million barrels per day), and Nigeria (1.053 million barrels per day). The rest of the top ten sources, in order, were Angola (0.585 million barrels per day), Iraq (0.369 million barrels per day), Algeria (0.330 million barrels per day), United Kingdom (0.321 million barrels per day), and Ecuador (0.292 million barrels per day).

Total crude oil imports averaged 10.341 million barrels per day in August, which is an increase of 0.085 million barrels per day from July. The top five exporting countries accounted for 68 percent of United States crude oil imports in August and the top ten sources accounted for approximately 86 percent of all U.S. crude oil imports.
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Ok that made me think about how much is this really? How many gallons is it? Can we put it into some sort of down to earth perspective?

(Source http://www.gravmag.com/oil.html#imports)

U.S. gasoline consumption of 320,500,000 gallons per day (March 2005) works out to about 3700 gallons per second.

If lined up in 1-gallon cans, they would encircle the earth at the equator almost 6 times (about 147,000 miles of cans) — every day.

The US, with 5% of the world's population, consumes 45% of the gasoline produced on earth.
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It is amazing, and what's even more amazing is the huge amount of money involved in the industry. I won't post anything on the prices and the impact on the economy, but you can read more at http://archive.greenpeace.org/climate/oil/fdsub.html if you seek further reading.
 
Sunb, the impact on the economy of poor nations like in Latin America is that buying any resource at all from them makes jobs and pumps money into the economy. President Bush promised the leaders in African and Latin American countries that we would purchase more from them and he's trying to keep that promise. These countries need dollars badly and that is one way to spread a little wealth which can't be a bad thing if it eases poverty levels.

Do a little research on how many other rich countries are doing something similar and post it. I, for one would like to see who is fighting third world poverty and who's not bothering.
 
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