Price at the Pump

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Oil prices have now hit a new record of $61 a barrel. (How big is a barrel anyway?) This has caused a type of armageddon in the U.S. with many people forecasting that gasoline prices may climb as high as *gasp* $3 per gallon by the end of the year. That got me to thinking - $3 per gallon is still a heck of a lot less than most people are paying, aren't they? Especially Europeans.

So how much do you pay at the pump? It should be easy enough to do a conversion here. The average gas price in the U.S. is $2.22 per gallon. With 1 gallon = 3.8 liters, and 1.27 USD = 1 Euro, it means that a liter of gas in the U.S. costs about 0.46 Euros. I'm thinking the price has to be a hell of a lot higher than that in Europe.

Feel free to check my math though - here are the assumptions I used:

1. Didn't use exact conversion rates i.e., 1 gallon is about 3.8 liters and 1.27 USD is about 1 Euro - I wasn't motivated enough to look up precise values.

2. Most Europeans pay for gas in Euros (Britain being the noteworthy exception) and gas is typically priced by the liter.

3. I didn't bother looking up the conversion to British Pounds,

EDIT: Evidently, based on Sarevok's comments, my guess of 1 Euro being about the same as 1 British Pound is way off. He didn't tell me what is was though, so I can't provide the right answer.

[ July 07, 2005, 18:30: Message edited by: Aldeth the Foppish Idiot ]

 

How can americans complain about petrol prices? They pay less than half what we pay in the UK ffs. btw, £1 is not 1 euro.

 

Complaints are all relative, Sarevok. Compared to what Americans are accustomed to paying, prices here are extremely high. I remember that "How can you complain - Europeans already pay so much more than Americans do" comment from the 1970's energy crisis. It didn't carry any more weight now than it does then. Americans are still going to bemoan the fact that gas prices are higher than they've ever been before.

My in-laws were in Montreal last week, and I can't remember what Dad said the price was, but it was at least $1/litre.

 

Ross Perot wanted to jack up gas prices to what Europe is -- too many American waste gas through joy rides. He believed by raising the prices the revenue could help pay off the national debt. The high prices would keep auto usage at moderate levels and help clean the environment.

Didn't go over too well in the land of opportunity and gluttony.

His running mate died on Tuesday. Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale was a true hero (complete with a Medal of Honor).

 

I would like this to be true but unfortunately it's not. The price of 1 liter here is ranging from 0.85 to 0.90 euros and in some islands it reaches 0.95 Euros.

 

Around here we are generally not as upset by the high prices (not that we are happy about them) as much as we are annoyed by the volatility of the prices.

Gas prices around Toronto have been fluctuating wildly over the last few years between the mid seventy cents (Canadian)/litre anywhere up to the low 90 cent per litre range and back down again - often in a very short period of time. The prices are constantly jumping up and down with swings as large as 10 cents/litre (in either direction) in a single day.

The relationship between the pump price and the cost of oil has been pretty much non-existant. We look at the price fluctations and just shake our heads in bewilderment.

The price last Thursday was in the mid 70s, it was 84.4 when I filled up on Tuesday and then dropped a couple of cents yesterday. It will probably hit the 70s sometime this week and then jump back up to the mid/high 80s.

 

I agree with T2Bruno: tax the bejeezus out of gasoline, and get these suvs off the road...

If/when the world starts running out of oil, well... it could be geopolitical disaster...

 

Here in Wisconsin, gas is at about $2.25 (American) per gallon, which would make it $0.47 (Euro) per liter. We may b**** about gas prices, but when you look at the international market, the U.S. has the cheapest gas around. It makes me feel a little better, but it's still cutting into my budget.

 

With gas, do you mean LPG (liquefied petroleum gas)? That's not that expensive in Holland either, but the stuff that my machine drinks (unleaded gasoline, with a octane rating of 95) is 1.325 euro/liter nowadays.

I could only wish that one euro was 1.28 USD, but in reality, it is closer to 1.19 USD nowadays. So let's do some math: 1 liter is 1.11 USD; which makes a gallon, 4.22 USD (feel free to check my math). And that is the cheapest stuff gas stations serve here in the Netherlands (besides LPG and diesel).

EDIT: typo

[ July 07, 2005, 19:41: Message edited by: Mesmero ]

 

No, I'm talking about the stuff that goes straight into my car. Unleaded, and I think the octane level is 85, but I'm not sure, and I'm definitely not going to drive over to check. I try not to use it any more than necessary, because I'm not too fond of driving.

 

Gas costs about 1.70 euros/liter which of course is a lot. Even diesel costs 0.99 euros. It sucks, but then again I don't own a car nor do I drive one on regular basis so it really does not affect me much.

 

But that IS a lot more than what we pay in the U.S. It's about twice as much to be precise.

It could very well be true. I based my 1.26 USD to 1 Euro based on my last Euro transaction about two months ago. I can easily see it changing by 0.1 in the time since.

You know, this does beg an interesting question: WHY is gasoline so much higher in Europe? Presumably they get the majority of their gasoline from the same place we do - the Middle East. Last I checked a map, Europe was a heck of a lot closer to the Middle East than we are, which would seem to indicate that if anything, transportation costs would be lower to Europe than to the U.S. So is this price (which seems to be about double or more) based strictly on higher taxes?

 

This smacks of more Conspiracy Theory than is my wont, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that federal subsidies keep fuel prices artificially low so that Americans never get too interested in alternate fuels or energy-efficient vehicles, thereby breaking the stranglehold that oil companies have over society. Of course, I have absolutely bupkes for proof, but there it is...

 

Sorry Aldeth, I misread your post, I thought that you meant that the prices in US are higher than the prices in Europe.

As far as I know, this is happening mostly due to taxation. The tax now is the 21,2% of the price and according to EU directives it's going to reach the 25% until 2009.

 

You nailed it, Rallymama. Bush and Cheney are pushing the oil agenda. I can only hope that they will follow the rules and not run for re-election in 2008. After all, laws don't mean too much when you're the ones making them. (Even if you're not supposed to be.)

 

Yikes! It would cost me a fortune to fill up my tank there!

 

Unleaded petrol prices in Australia are about $1.10 to $1.25 per litre at the moment, depending on whether you're in the city or the country. There's a Federal fuel excise that accounts for about half of that amount, when you factor in the 10% GST as well.

$1 AUD = $0.74 USD, about 40p - less than everyone else seems to be paying, unless they're in the USA.

And to think, those ungrateful sods STILL piss and moan about the price of petrol (I spent 5 years as a console operator for Caltex).

EDIT: Fixed lousy maths

[ July 08, 2005, 04:48: Message edited by: NonSequitur ]

 

Yes, petrol is much more expensive in NZ than in USA.

Petrol prices are about NZ$1.3 per litre. At an exchange rate of 0.7 this is US$1.86 per litre. Converted to gallons, this equals:

US$7.03 per gallon for petrol.

This looks about 3 times the price you pay in USA. This is why so many of you can get away with driving gigantic gas guzzling 4 wheel drive tankmobiles, and why I have always driven a smaller more economical car.

Of course, the price of petrol will only continue to rise until eventually nobody will be able to afford it and we'll all have to drastically change the way we live.