Are we in the US really paying too much for gas?
I think compared to other major countries I am living in gas heaven

So what would an American need to pay for gas in US to come equivalent to what people are paying worldwide? (See the last column)

I compiled the gas prices in some countries and took the Purchasing power parity(PPP) data from CIA handbook (2003 est).


Country ----Actual Price($/gal)---PPP US$ ---------Price compared to US avg. of $2.29


China------------1.54 ---------- 5,000----------------- 11.6424
France-----------5.52 ---------- 27,600 ----------------- 7.56
Germany--------5.7 ---------- 27,600 ----------------- 7.806522
India-------------3.73 ---------- 2,900 ----------------- 48.61862
Italy------------- 5.91 ---------- 26,700 ----------------- 8.366966
Japan------------3.84 ---------- 28,200 ----------------- 5.147234
Netherlands----6.4 ---------- 28,600 ----------------- 8.458741
Russia-----------1.45 ---------- 8,900 ----------------- 6.158427
U.K.--------------5.94 ---------- 27,700 ----------------- 8.105848
U.S.--------------2.29 ---------- 37,800 ----------------- 2.29


Sample Calculation: China
Gas price $ 1.54 ..... Avg annual income $5000
Avg US income $37,800
So for every $1 I make a Chinese earns $5000/$37800=$0.132
OR every $1 would be worth 37800/5000= $7.56 in China

So Price a Chinese has to pay compared to an American= Gas price in china* value of dollar in china (not to be confused with currency conversion rate)
= $1.54 * 7.56= $11.64
In real terms a Chinese pays $11.64 compared to an Americans $2.29/gal




I look at the column what an Indian has to pay and I wonder.....Do we really need to make a big deal of the gas prices going up.. Of course I am not accounting the fact that Americans drives more than other people...Perhaps its the low price of Gas

[edit on 8-4-2005 by Quake]

[edit on 8-4-2005 by Quake]

People in the US are damn lucky and I agree, your in a gas heaven.

All those that disagree should try coming over to the UK and paying our petorl (gas) prices, where by most of the money we pay goes into taxes for the governemtn. My wallet regularly feels violated when I pay 83p ($1.59) for one litre of petrol.

yikes, that is bad we're just breaking the 1$ canadian(~85 cents american) a liter on the West coast and lots of people are complaining. Only thing that we have to complain about is the fact that our mass transite sucks ass so much that it can't really be counted on as a viable alternative.

lol US are lucky we fork out 83.1 to 90p a liter and it expected to go over a pound before the end of the year.................Can anyone hear alot of gas convertions happening shortly.

Still, even with the "relative" amount of luck the US has on current gas prices, it keeps going up & up & up............


[edit on 24-4-2005 by MidnightDStroyer]

Originally posted by MidnightDStroyer
Still, even with the "relative" amount of luck the US has on current gas prices, it keeps going up & up & up............

[edit on 24-4-2005 by MidnightDStroyer]

Hehe...Everything that goes up comes down: Corollary of Newtons law of gravitation ...In fact I saw a decrease of about 20c/gallon last week here in the midwest. Even before the price drop I felt that gas in US is far cheaper than other countries except probably Saudi Arabia and Veneuzela.

Amur Tiger: Same here. If I had access to a good public transport I would take it any day over driving on my own. God I love NYC for its public transport..

Just a note for those in UK: I am not sure if you buy gas by the gallon or liter (judging by your posts probably liter), if not then
UK Gallon= 4.55 liter
US gallon= 3.79 liter

EDIT: The question is: Would it be wise for the US govt. to levy a tax on gas like many other countries in the world, which it can then use to provide incentives and tax breaks for better causes? This would reduce our dependence on oil because people will consume less if it gets more expensive. Thoughts?



[edit on 24-4-2005 by Quake]

prices of gasoline in different countries without considering taxation.

The raw price of gasoline is about the same everywhere. Crude oil is a commodity and refining technology is well known.

The differences are almost all taxation. In Europe, consumers pay a whole lot at the pump, but that money comes back recycled into their own economy.

When US gasoline is $5 a gallon, like Europe is today, that extra money will go to dissipative Saudi princes and into making nuclear weapons for terrorist groups.

Originally posted by mbkennel
Entirely improper to compare

prices of gasoline in different countries without considering taxation.

The raw price of gasoline is about the same everywhere. Crude oil is a commodity and refining technology is well known.

I never said that the price of crude oil varies a lot in different countries. In fact, in London crude oil is usually a dollar cheaper by the barrel than NYC.

The point is you or me dont pay the crude oil prices at the gas station. So, gas expenditure would cause a bigger(much bigger) dent in the paychecks of people living all over the world. That's what I tabulated in the last column of the table in the original post : what a person spends on a gallon of gas taking into account his living standards.

The differences are almost all taxation. In Europe, consumers pay a whole lot at the pump, but that money comes back recycled into their own economy.

When US gasoline is $5 a gallon, like Europe is today, that extra money will go to dissipative Saudi princes and into making nuclear weapons for terrorist groups.

Why is that European gas tax would be recycled in their economy where as American gas tax would go to Saudi Arabia?

It wouldn't. Tax is tax, and peak oil is something else.

Some people say "See Europeans can get by at $5 a gallon". Yes, they can, and we can certainly use more efficient vehicles, but the economics will be different when lightly-taxed US gasoline is $5 a gallon (and European gasoline $8) because of peak oil.