PalenQ

NYTimes carried a chart from the lundbergsurvey.com detailing fuel prices at the pump around the world - for Europe it gave for a U.S. gal of unleaded gas:

Netherlands $10.05
Belgium $9.23
Germany $8.98
Denmark $8.90
Portugal $8.89
Italy $8.85
France $8.78
UK $8.71
Sweden $8.60
Poland $8.07
Czech Rep $7.99
Ireland $7.38
Greece $7.31
Spain $7.30
Russia $3.79

Note - it also gave the Tax Portion of the price for each country and as gas is pretty much the same price when imported everywhere the taxes have always made Europe's fuel costs much higher than U.S.

For example Netherlands taxes each gal $5.57 - much more in tax than gas costs in the U.S. in total.

% of taxes corresponds pretty much to the price

the U.S. taxes each gal an avg of $0.49 only

vs other countries

U.S. $4.00
Canada $5.09
Venezuela $0.25
S Arabia $0.60
Iraq $1.74
Mexico $2.54

hetismij

We had trouble explaining to folks in the US that petrol prices were going up just the same in Europe as they were in the US. We kept hearing people say that the prices were reaching European levels. I wish!
I live in a fairly cheap area - here it is only $9 per gallon.

PalenQ

Yes and we do not realize that gas is still a relative bargain in the U.S. and Canada - personally i think we should have had a $5/gal tax like most of Europe long ago and with funds built up mass transit, etc.

BTW the poll was a survey of prices for June 2008 - prices have declined a bit since then i think

hetismij

Yes prices have dropped a bit, but not by a Euro - there's a good reason why Shell announced the profits it did today!

tomboy

I'm still waiting for Saudi Aramco, Venezuela's Petroleos, and the National Iranian Oil Company to announce their profits. 'twould dwarf Exxon's and Shell's

flanneruk

I think this shows that petrol HASN'T gone up as fast in Europe as in the US.

The NYTimes table is saying petrol's a bit over twice US prices in the four major European countries.

My memory has always been that the ratio's been closer to three (or more) times. Clearly - outside NL, which obviously conditions Hetismij's view - the tax element and the fall of the $ against the £ and € have changed that.

Incidentally, this isn't a terribly good guide to what it costs to run a car. Petrol's pricey in NL because the system encourages diesel, LPG etc far more. Diesel's (currently unbelievably) pricier than petrol in the UK: it's substantially cheaper than petrol in most of the continent. Overall, Europe (apart from us, who never like getting too close to our European "partners&quot seems to encourage the use of diesel much more than the US does.

tomboy

Well, duh!!!
New law of math: lower numbers increased by a fixed amount increase more percentagewise than higher numbers.
What'll they think of next?

flanneruk

IF the £, € and $ had kept the same relationship,

AND if all fuel tax in Europe were ad valorem (which I think it is in NL)

The US:Europe price ratio would have stayed the same.

It's not the absolute cost of US fuel that makes it inflate relatively fast: it's the debauching of America's currency

tomboy

If my grandma had _____, she'd be my grandpa.

RM67

For any visitors to the UK it might be worth knowing that supermarket petrol is usually cheaper than big brands.

For example it's £1.14 at Sainsburys today, but £1.18 - £1.19 (a litre) at Shell etc

PalenQ

I think flanner's right about the 3:1 ratio traditionally

for years i went to France and drove around a lot and it thrice as expensive is what i always figured

and as oil is priced i believed still in dollars then the rise of the euro vis-a-vis the greenback would make it cheaper in ratio terms

and for some reason diesel is much more expensive in U.S. than lead-free regular fuel - at one time it was cheaper

flanneruk

tomboy:

Are you simply innumerate? If so - which sems likely - there's no point in humouring you.

Mucky

"Are you simply innumerate? If so - which sems likely - there's no point in humouring you."

Flanner Are you simply illiterate? If so - which seems likely - there's no point in humouring you.


;-)

Have a nice evening

Muck

Robert2533

The price of "gasolina A" (diesel) in northern Spain has gone up 16%/liter since the first of the year and only about 18%/liter since last summer. In contrast, the cost of a gallon of fuel in the USA has gone up around 26% in one year and nearly doubled between the summer of 06 and 08.

hetismij

Luckily for Europe and the UK oil is sold in dollars, otherwise it would still have the 3:1 price difference, as Flanner says.

Also, although diesel and LPG are cheaper here owners of vehicles powered by these fuels pay more in basic road tax than petrol owners do. There comes a break even point - if you do enough Kms then you are better off with diesel or LPG, but for those who do only a few Kms, like me, petrol is better, provided you have a light car - the tax is based on the weight of the vehicle).
Big downside to LPG for me is that you can't go through the Tunnel with an LPG car.

Louie_LI

Diesel is now more expensive than petrol in France.

kerouac

Not anywhere I've been. It has stayed about 0.04€ cheaper per liter.

Carlux

Diesel is NOT more expensive than regular gas/petrol in France. It got pretty close for a while, and in a few stations surpassed the price of petrol, but you can see current prices on
http://www.carbeo.com/

Depending where you buy, it's 1.30-1.66 GO (GasOil), i.e. Diesel
1.36-1.72 SP95 (unleaded 95 octane)
all in Euros

PalenQ

Q- Why for years and years i believe at least diesel was cheaper in the States and now it is significantly more expensive?

caroline_edinburgh

Same in the UK - last time I looked (for a poster here) diesel was 12% more, but it used to be less. I assumed it started being taxed more as it's worse environmentally ?