Europeans: How are your gas prices?

[lonnarin]

When I started college 5 years ago, I could fill my tank for a little over $20 US.  This morning I filled up and it cost me $46... and in less than 2 weeks the prices went up over 40 cents/gallon

I was wondering how drastically the gas prices have risen in the international community, or if this is just a crisis entirely localized to the US right now.  If it's been relatively stable for you these past 2-3 years, I may be moving soon after graduation before our economy predictably implodes.

[Harlas Ravelkione]

In Denmark its around $1.6-1.7 for a liter of gas. There are around 4 liters on a gallon, so... quit complaining about US prices.

[lonnarin]

OUCH!  Has it been historically priced around that amount for the past year or so, or are you too finding a huge price increase occuring?

[Harlas Ravelkione]

Has increased with 20% or so through the last year I think. There are many reasons for that.

[Vincent]

Crude Oil was trading at $70/barrel last week, and it's around $65/barrel this week (today).  I'm fairly certain oil prices affect everyone, not just the US.

But I'm also fairly certain the oil companies have been artificially inflating oil prices (profiteering) also (no proof, of course).  Oil used to be $40/barrel (last year), it has risen ~50% to 65/barrel.  Gas prices, on the other hand, used to be $1.50/gallon.  Now it's roughly $3.20/gallon, over 100%.  The gas stations themselves are getting reamed on this too.  Last week a local station (in Chicago) was selling gasoline AT COST for $3.19/gallon.

And regarding the implosion, look for it to happen shortly before/after election time.  That's about how much time I give the housing market before it finally collapses under its own weight, and that's about as long as I see the Bush Administration forcefully holding up the economy before they finally let go (because they won't be able to sustain it) and let their successors (Democrats, most likely) look bad so they can retake the White House in 2012.

I'm no financial analyst, but I'm very bearish on our economy.  Looking at a lot of these economic releases and their calculation methods, right now (to me) it's looking like a poker player with a 2-7 offsuit trying to convince everyone he's got pocket aces.

Note: Also, we're worse off in this country because the automotive and energy industries have so much clout that our public transportation is underdeveloped and our most popular automobiles are gas-guzzling monstrosities like the Hummer and the SUV-class that get like 14 miles/gallon.  Compare that to a typical European Citroen or Polo that gets at least 30 miles/gallon.

[Leanthar]

Well stated Vincent, couldn't agree more.
  One thing:
  "...Last week a local station (in Chicago) was selling gasoline AT COST for $3.19/gallon..."
  Well... you do know that these gas stations are personally owned by the the oil companies right?  So yeah they can sell at cost because they have already taken our money at the barrel.  They do it this way because the gas stations are the front end to their customers and it is a PR thing. 

[steverimmer]

Near me petrol is selling for about £1.04 per litre which converts to $1.91 per litre if I've got it right.  Prices have risen sharply since the disaster in New Orleans.

[Vincent]

Leanthar - 9/8/2005  1:21 PM    Well stated Vincent, couldn't agree more.
  One thing:
  "...Last week a local station (in Chicago) was selling gasoline AT COST for $3.19/gallon..."
  Well... you do know that these gas stations are personally owned by the the oil companies right?  So yeah they can sell at cost because they have already taken our money at the barrel.  They do it this way because the gas stations are the front end to their customers and it is a PR thing.  
[/b][/b]

 I did not know that, but for some reason I'm not really surprised.

[Diamondedge]

Well. The gas prices up here in good ol' Canada are a jillion times worse than 40 cents a gallon.

Let's say that the Canadian dollar is .75 of the american dollar. Meaning your 40 cents is somewhere... 50 - 60 cents for me. I don't know for sure, I'm lazy.

That's roughly half the price for the gas where I am. Per LITRE. That's like... Unreal. You pay say, 60 cents for a gallon. That's 4 litres.

Last place I was at had it going for about 1.15 for a litre. That means 4.60 plus GST per gallon. I'm lucky to live in Alberta, no PST. Those are, by the way, consumer taxes impressed upon us because of WWI. Yep.

So. GST is 7%. Meaning that 4.60 per gallon becomes 4.922 per gallon. No, if I were to translate that 4.922 canadian back into American we get $3.6915 per gallon.

Imagine that. I come from the community that provides probably as much oil to the world as Texas, and I get to pay a crap load to fill my car with it. Huh.

[Lord of the Forest]

well, here (germany) we have about 1,40 euro for normal fuel per litre; 1,46 euro for 'super' per litre, very expensive here...

[EdTheKet]

However, you all should really feel sorry for me as the price in Holland is:
  1.495 euro per liter, which is 5.659 euro per gallon, which at the current exchange rate is $7.39 per gallon.
  And yes, I do tell my American counterparts from our US office to stop whining about their gas prices
  And yes, it has risen about 20 eurocents recently, but it was about 1.20-ish per liter ($5.93-ish a gallon) for about a year already...

[Harlas Ravelkione]

Yesterday scientists from my university in Denmark presented an alternative to gas - hydrogen in the form of a pill, and an engine that will run on these. Lets hope our government throws a couple of millios into continued research.

[Vincent]

Diamondedge - 9/8/2005  2:12 PM

Well. The gas prices up here in good ol' Canada are a jillion times worse than 40 cents a gallon.

Actually, it's closer to $3.20/gallon, unless you were speaking only about the price increase (which would still be $1.50).  This also sort of strikes me as weird, since Canada actually is a major exporter of oil (to the US) and its currency tends to do well when oil prices go up.

[Filatus]

BLOODY AMERICANS, stop complaining about your prices, they´re much higher here.

[Crunch]

I live in Hawaii.  Our prices were actually lower than the mainland prices for the last few months.  Usually our prices have been 20-30 cents per gallon higher than mainland prices.  But .... on September 1st our gas price cap law kicked in, which resulted in about a 50 cent per gallon RISE in gas prices.  Sometimes you've got to wonder about government intervention in markets.  

[Talan Va'lash]

Prices are (as of 2 days ago) around $3.50 in NY.  Only $2.99 in CO though.

-TV

Edit: US Dollars per gallon

[Rasterick]

I had thought of converting my Landrover Defender      to Eco fuel (Frying oil), as it works out considerably cheaper. Thing is, could I bear my vehicle smelling like a fish and chip shop all the time?

[Turnsy]

The price in Australia went from just over $1 per litre all the way up to $1.39 per litre in just a matter of 2 weeks (and is predicted to get higher in the coming days). The companies are using the New Orleans events as the excuse for the huge rise in price. Can someone please tell me (as not being from the USA) how much would these tragic events affect the price on oil the world over?

[Vincent]

Well since the US and China are the biggest buyers of oil, and New Orleans was home to quite a lot of the US's oil production (I'm not sure exactly how much), that would increase the US's demand on the global market for oil.  Since the US would now need more oil, that would raise prices for everyone else.

I'd expect the same impact on prices in Australia as in the US.  The oil companies will also milk this.  Right now oil prices are being held because Bush released those reserves of his.  I don't expect the release to hold out, however - I only see it stalling the inevitable.

[PsychicToaster]

Its not that the prices are higher or lower than overseas, its that prices here are rising faster than the annual inflation rate, significantly faster, which is causing a drag on the economy.  Individuals curtail spending on products because they have less disposeable income, meanwhile those same products' prices are going up because of the rising fuel cost of shipping those products to retailers.  Converting to electric sounds nice in theory, until you realize that these same industry moguls control the source of the electric company's fuel.  Hostility towards and fear of fission power has essentially halted its use as a cheap source of significant amounts of electricity.

The stranglehold on alternative energy politics pointed out above doesn't help this situation in the least.  Its not cheap to develop these new technologies, and that is compounded by skeptical consumers and hostile policy makers.  

So the next time your American counterparts complain about gas prices, cut them some slack.    The majority of Americans aren't represented in the government right now.  (I'm not talking Reps vs Dems, there's a lot of us alienated Republicans out there too)  Which means change isn't exactly on the horizon.