Got Gas?

[01Snake]

Think you pay a lot for gas? Perhaps you'd prefer to live in Venezuela.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – Gasoline prices in the United States, which have recently hit record highs, are actually much lower than in many countries. Drivers in some European cities, like Amsterdam and Oslo, are paying nearly 3 times more than those in the U.S.

The main factor in price disparities between countries is government policy, according to AirInc, a company that tracks the cost of living in various places around the world. Many European nations tax gasoline heavily, with taxes making up as much as 75 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline, said a spokesperson for AirInc.

In a few Latin America and Middle-East nations, such as Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, oil is produced by a government-owned company and local gasoline prices are kept low as a benefit to the nation's citizens, he said. All prices updated March, 2005.

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 T-aipei $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

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/

[Clandestino]

yeah, i left europe about 5 years ago and i was paying around $4 a gallon...

[CubanMustGo]

One reason their public transit kicks ass is that the Euro gas taxes fund them.

[PixelPusher]

One reason their public transit kicks ass is that the Euro gas taxes fund them.

Now, now...we can't indulge ourselves with tax supported fancy-shmancy public transit systems, superior telecommunications, advanced levees and such...this is America! We cut taxes and trust in the sacred free-market fairy to figure it all out for us.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Yup.

And the market price still doesn't account for the environmental damage done by IC engines, nor the cost of switching to another technology when the gas runs short. Don't underestimate the cost of switching either - we are talking about changing the entire transport infrastructure system, and that will come at massive cost (in the trillions of $ worldwide).

And if you think transport isn't overly important, think about this: if Iran decided "fuck the world" and sank a couple of super-tankers in the Strait of Hormuz (which would cut off tankers from entering and leaving the gulf), world oil supplies would be cut by somewhere between 40-50% (most of Saudi Arabia's oil is shipped out through the gulf, as is the UAE's, Iraq's and Kuwait's).

Suddenly, there wouldn't be enough oil to go around, so how does the food get to your supermarket shelves? Our centralized food distribution networks rely entirely on tankers, trucks and rail (usually diesel-powered), so a massive shortfall in oil production would freeze those networks (after the strategic reserve ran out), and food shortages would be inevitable. And what happens when people can't buy food? Rioting, mayhem and chaos that would make the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina look tame.

Seriously, let's start moderating our use of gas by changing our behaviours and switching to alternatives. The Western world is extremely vulnerable to oil shocks because of our centralisation of just about everything (and because everything in the globalised economy relies on transport, which equals oil).

[Nbadan]

I wonder why CNN would leave Iraq, in the bottom 5 for sure, off the list?

[PixelPusher]

I wonder why CNN would leave Iraq, in the bottom 5 for sure, off the list?
Iran is off the list too, but don't assume they have low prices just because they're sitting on a bunch of oil; refinery capacity is the other half of the equation.