The Price of Petrol

It is so highly taxed here... (UK) I have given up looking at the price...
Why bother? I gotta fill 'er up else she'll stop running.
I put in £20 worth... the fill up interval just gets shorter. I do 'bad' miles unfortunately...lots of short (10minute) journeys in urban trafic.

I drive a Nissan Micra 1.4 Auto (We are a 1 car family...Mrs Cat bought it with her retirement money. ) I'd buy myself a little electric car if there was a decent one (I wonder if that nice Blink does any discount for CR4 members?)
Del

Del,

It does seem too bad that an electric car for short urban trips isn't available. It seems that there is an unrealistic goal for these vehicles to be able to match a tank full of petroleum with a battery pack. This keeps electic car prices unreasonably high. I think a 50 mile range would be plenty and cover most commuting needs. Electrics are inherently good for stop and go urban traffic, especially with regenerative braking.

Dave

...and if was possible to combine meter parking with a power socket as in Finland (for warming the engine cooling water in winter there!), it would get even better!!

Andy,

Most alternatives to gasoline/diesel fuel suffer from infrastucture problems. Rechargeable electrics can not only use the existing electrical grids, they can use it during off-peak hours when the rates should be low.

Dave

I know. I am also not a particular advocate of electricity either unless it can be made with a low carbon footprint at a low price....I did mention electrical sockets on parking meters in Finland, but that was all......battery performance is still not where it needs to be, neither is battery life or price or weight.....

My main complaint is that while the rest of the world have been paying more and more for gas at the pump, the USA was still "pumping out" Big heavy iron motors with heavy consumption, because your gas prices were until relatively recently, artificially low.

It seemed to proclaim, "If you've got it, use it!" attitude, no thinking for the next generations at all....

Now everyone is brought up short and are still stuck with a large number of older cars with Dinosaur engines, that will take a few more years to get rid of, that drink colossal amounts of gas.

Luckily while Detroit slept (again!), the car manufacturers in the rest of the world did their sums and there are plenty of engines around with relatively low consumption for their output power. Detroit will have to bite the bullet someday soon it would appear......

Also, car construction has now got to the point that relatively good structures for a crash can be built relatively easily and at a relatively low weight, I did not say light though.

I just want to see the resources used conservatively and not just squandered away.....

Not to argue the social impact of petrol usage, but I find it most interesting that Andy states: "because your gas prices were until relatively recently, artificially low."

I think it would be more accurate to state that added taxes that double the price would make gas prices "artificially high" in other markets.

Interesting how we become programmed...

Where did you previously low gas price get you to, world leader in usage!!! Wow, I am envious.....

For the normal Guy buying the gas, its immaterial what percentage goes where.....at least the higher taxes taught us to develop and use more efficient engines.....for many years......

That is what stopped Europe ever becoming a hive of V-8s, with 150BHP and pulling a 2.5 Ton car at 10 MPG.....

Andy,

Good answer. This also has thrown us into Iraq and we are the ones that are financing the terrorists. We in the US, heavily subsidize the oil industry, even now with their record profits. We give a few million dollars to the ethanol industry and everyone starts to complain. Well at least the workers and owners (US farmers) of the ethanol plants are not using their profits to make bombs to kill off the infidels.

You are right, the EV has a niche as a vehicle just for the urban, short-range driver who can afford a second gasoline/petrol powered car for the longer trips. Unfortunately even those EVs cost more than a regular car. Remember that a 50 mile range means 25 miles away then back home to recharge.

What if you built an EV that had a 25 mile round-trip range to handle about 80% of your driving, then you installed a small, clean, efficient steam engine to power a generator to keep the batteries charged for longer trips. That would give you both in one vehicle and would be cheaper than having two cars. E-mail -beesidemeusa@yahoo.co.uk and ask about steam-electric hybrids, there is a lot of info there.

Taganan,

Did.

We took a little rear drive FIAT 500 of about '62 vintage, pulled the motor off the bellhousing and substituted a 32volt traction motor, c/w clutch. Added 36volts of batteries, and a very simple variable resistance speed controller. (That damned thing would do wheel stands in first gear.) It was used for getting to work daily, after being on the charger all night, a bit of running around town- lunches and the like- and home again in the PM. About 40miles/day.

Worked a treat.

Messing about with it broke things. We WERE just a litle more than kids then. Finally gave the whole thing away in favour of a Pontiac Laurentian. (shame shame shame)

Well, it was the early seventies and fuel was cheap.

I can't remember the cost of the exercise, but I can recall that we did struggle with the money supply to buy the bits, and engineering.

Stu

Here we are paying the equivalent of US$ 6.40 per US Gallon for Premium petrol (gasoline).

Diesel is currently the equivalent of US$ 5.44 per US Gallon.

I have remembered that the US gallon is a smaller measure than the original Imperial Gallon.

The government here takes a large proportion in the form of tax, then GST is added to the total, GST being a tax on a tax, with the original inmport price having customs duty, and other taxes on it, before the "main tax then plust the GST" are added.

The true (unsubsidised) cost of petrol should currently run at over US$42.00 per Litre.

That true cost, (over US$42.00 per Litre) is not a misprint, folks, remember that oil is a mostly non-renewable resource, being squandered from the Planetary Energy Bank.

Kind Regards....

Your thoughts are clear. Economists sometimes refer to something called "shadow price."

• Shadow price

• The true economic PRICE of an activity: the OPPORTUNITY COST. Shadow prices can be calculated for those goods and SERVICES that do not have a market price, perhaps because they are set by GOVERNMENT. Shadow pricing is often used in COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS, where the whole purpose of the analysis is to capture all the variables involved in a decision, not merely those for which market prices exist.

This is from economist.com.

The fact that making gasoline disallows making plastic - opportunity cost.

Several of the things you list are costs of ownership, or use, and might be attributed to the end user. If the end user would just pick an engine that employs perfectly efficient combustion and no mechanical losses then there would be no such costs, no losses, no polution. It is the result of the end use, but not contributing to retail costs.

You are pointing out that it is a many-dimensional problem; it has complexity in a general sense. It impacts society in a variety of ways beyond the pump.

Very insightful (for a Sparkmeister!) GA2U

These things are not generally included in discussions or considerations of cost because they do not contribute to the price at the pump, and mostly have no quantifiable value.. (How can one put a value on the path not followed?)

And don't forget the "democratic" idiots we haven't finished paying for yet like Clinton and Gore!

Way off mark and not insightful, And I apologize for responding to someone without the decency to sign his name!

Hi Sparky,

Although off the topic, I wonder if you could help me. I have no power to my house, all my neighbours seem to be OK>

I am shocked to see such a messy cables in OZ. We have such messy cables in villages in India too.

Suresh Sharma.

Yep, It's just outside his house. Buggers up his TV reception no end, as well.

There was some talk in the neighbourhood that it was keeping nearly all of the people in the street awake nights.

Big birds nesting.

Heh!

Cheers

Stu.

Don't take the piss out of him Stu!!!!!!

Sorry to diappoint you Suresh.............this is in India.

I am sorry................this was a joke for Sparkstation.

NO, this is a doctored picture.

Indians may be poor and getting all the service calls from US companies but NOT STUPIDS to get power thgis way.

As far as the gas price is concerned, we all will be filling up our cars and driving as we do now and and as we were driving 20 years ago. We may use smaller cars but driving habits shall not change. Whoever thinks that he/she will be driving less, lives in fools' paradise. I do not care how much does it cost, we will always have enough money to buy gas (Petrol to our friend, on the other side of thge ponds, like Atlantic and Pacific)

I am not being obnoxious or any thing of that sort, just realistic. Somr folks may think otherwise and respectfully I would tell them that this is my opinion. A opinion only.

I have a Focus and fills up with 42 dollars now and Nissan Quest takes 65 dollars to fill up and it is does three times a month plus Colorado 2006 truck for my teenager son in University of Texas in Austin. He also fills up for 48 dollars twice a month. All the driving has to be done so why worry. If gas is more expensive then my salary has also gone up and I do not feel the crunch. Not at present and we will see what the future hold. If we do not get that idiot's regime part III in the face of John Macain, things may turn out to be better.

So, folks, do not worry and pay for the gas happily as by bruding upon the necessary expenses will make your life shorter an the gas would still be expensive.

I am quite sure every one has the income raised by the annual cost of living adjustment so why to worry about. Yes it hurts the pocket book but we do not have any control on it. It is just like Tax by IRS and death by Almighty God. (for believers only)

Y'all have a very nice and safe weekend.

Regards;

Nadeem Butt

05202008

There are some of us that have not experienced any increase in our income to help compensate for the increase in prices. In fact most of the wage earners have not experienced much of an increase. It is hurting the majority, not the few that can already afford it.

It looks remarkably similar to an installation seen in the main street in La Paz, Bolivia.

Oil companies often operated at a loss when oil was $15 or $20 a bbl. Where was congress then to help the oil companies? Now when they are making money they get raked over the coals by congress. The oil companies do not set the cost of oil. If there were no demand for it or if there was an oversupply of it then the cost would be lower. Right now with the demand structure as it is every drop of oil is spoken for the second it is pumped. The ending stocks month to month or quarter to quarter are next to nothing.

There are two ways to lower the cost of oil. One is to increase production. This is not as simple as opening the valve a bit wider. This means more oil wells most notably offshore of the continental US and of course, ANWAR. However the environmental lobby has seen to it that the cork remains on these oil fields (at least by US oil companies). China is or will be drilling in the Gulf of Mexico with Cuba being their base of operations. This is oil that the US oil companies could go after if were it not for the Siera Club and the rest of the eco-economic terrorists that is the eco-lobby. (Their main goal is not saving the environment but rather to trash the US economy and the US industrial complex.)

As has been pointed out a large part of the price of fuel in Europe is taxation. To compare apples to apples you have to remove the tax from European and US fuel costs. Taxes are a way of social control. I would imagine people in Europe would love to see lower taxes on petro. Taxes on fuel in the US are also high. Look at the cost brakedown that someone posted earlier. State and Federal taxes come up to $0.66 a gal. while the money going to the refiner is labeled Distribution Costs, Mayketing Costs and Profits $0.13 and Refinery Cost and Profits $0.24 for a total of $0.37 cost AND profit for the producer. If cost AND profit are only $0.37 then it is reasonable to assume the profit is about half that or about $0.18 or $0.19 a gal.

Here in Washington State the state taxes are even higher and will be going up each year for the next several years.

Why has the US government done to help produce that gasoline and diesel? Nothing other than obstruction and road blocks. Why isn't Big Oil demanding answers from Congress? They should be other than the other way around.

When some politicians say that suspending the federal gas tax for the summer would only add up to about $30. I bet I use more than 167 gal of gas this summer and also suspending the tax would take pressure off of the transportation companies and the costs that are passed on to the consumer.

One last point... Oil is priced in US Dollars. When the Canadian Dollar surpassed the greenback for a very brief period of time the Canadians were overjoyed. It didn't take long before they saw a slow down of their own economy as a result of lower economic activity from Americans as well as a whole host of cascading economic activity. Then the Canadians didn't think a weak US Dollar was so great of an idea. A strong US Dollar is good for most of the world. A large component of the higher oil costs are tied to a weakening US Dollar.

In short if you want lower gas prices you have to have lower oil prices. The only way to get that is to have lower demand or higher production. I do not see demand going down any time soon. Even if more people start driving hybrids or electric vehicles the total demand will not go down significantly.

Travis

I am looking for the answer to one question in this debate/discussion. Why is the price of gasoline generally pegged to the price of sweet crude oil on the "spot market"? Most major users or oil companies don't buy crude on the spot market, rather on long term contract basis. [I suggest that the value of an oil company is tied intrinsically to the amount of oil reserves it has and the value of those reserves. An increase in sweet crude increases the value of the reserves and the company's value, which is important to a CEO wanting to increase his value to the company.]

Gasoline is traded on the spot market as well, and gasoline futures are driven by emotion as are oil futures. The price of oil goes up and it emotionally drives the price of gasoline.

You'll also notice that the moment there is a refinery fire or a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico that gasoline prices immediately begin to move up. That is pure emotion...

I agree with you only on my end I would interpret it as "Pure Excuse."

I agree with you.

That consumption doesn't just apply to automobiles. Crude oil is used for a lot of things and gas is just a byproduct. There's plastic that is made from crude oil along with solvents and and such. We are also big in consuming a lot of electricity.

The United States consumes the most in petroleum products in the world and China ranks second.

We might have only 6% of the population but we are the most inefficient when it comes to public transportation. We have a few cities that are good but then there's the rest of the United States that is left to commuting from suburbs to their place of work everyday. What is really bad is that a lot of the streets in our major cities are designed for Model-T's and is a cause for a lot of our traffic congestion in the major cities.

You can look around and see all the waste we have in our country. The regular American can careless about conservation. It's all about feeling good now.

Well - I think I got an earful there.You make many good points especially about our economy. The number that worries me is that in the last 50 years the world has consumed 50% of the natural resources. Is that a true statement?? It maybe close. What are we leaving for our grandchildren?? What will they have for an energy source?? This fossil fuel that we have is a treasure and we shouldn't be wasting it driving a 6,000 lb vehicle used to move a 200 lb person. That is wrong and only because it uses so much petro. I love the ride. But no matter what we think the cost of fuel is not controlled by us and it looks like the price of petro will determine how much we use.

PS - all the oil (if it does exist) that we are not allowed to drill for may someday be used by your grandchildren.

You need to register so we can give you good votes and have the credit show.

Every disruption in the GA-GA market brings an immediate emotional panic in the worldwide poster child "community."

Sure but I think we're mostly all adults here and can handle it.

It's still a nice feeling when someone acknowledges your input with respect.

Sorry Travis, my point was that the moment a hurricane appears the price goes up. Not the moment a platform is damaged.

Just because a hurricane appears in the gulf does not mean anything will be damaged.

I still maintain that emotional reaction is big part of what drives the oil and gasoline futures market.

Steve,

The same forces which elevate our gas (petrol) prices at 0926am each day after the days first announcement that the o'night oil price has risen to whatever it has risen to.

I won't have it that the bloody oil companies are not screwing us in a major way, too.

I KNOW the 'guvmunt' is. If they actually used the taxes collected from petroleum products to make/repair the roads, as stated when the tax was proposed originally and indeed when passed in the legislature, we'd have the best roads in Chrisendom.

I've looked in vain to find the IMMEDIATE price reduction at the gas pumps when the o'night price of crude goes down. Mostly takes a few days.

Who's having a lend of whom?

(First-place to the banks who debit my account IMMEDIATELY, on the keystroke, when transferring money to others. Where does the money go in the ensuing 2.5 days before it hits the payee's account?)

Isn't it great to be a "Grumpy Old Man"?

Cheers

Stu.

Hi Stu,

If they actually used the taxes collected from petroleum products to make/repair the roads, as stated when the tax was proposed originally and indeed when passed in the legislature, we'd have the best roads in Chrisendom.

Having just come back from a months holiday in Qld, on the Sunshine Coast I can tell you one thing mate...........driving from there to the Gold Coast and back............it's good............the only thing I had a problem with is the speed limit............are all the Qld cars speedos incorrect............or don't Qld drivers obey the speed limit(maybe most have numeracy problems.

Whatever you do don't complain.............here in South Australia I think the government must have shares with manufacturers of traffic lights..............the don't even know about overpasses, underpasses, large round-a-bouts etc.

The last motorway they built goes one way from 0100-1200, the from 1300-2400 the traffic flows the other way...............this place is beyond being backward!!!!!

This photo came from some one in Western Australia.

Long live the traffic lights..................aaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!!!!

What kind of traffic light is this? Please reply to mkelley086@gmail.com

I guess this kind of traffic light could be useful for this one.

Hi Guest,

1. You state that there are only to ways to lower the cost, then go on to deal almost exclusively with the increased supply. In your final paragraph you mention and then dismiss the other option - using less gas. About two years ago I realized that the price of gas was only going to increase. I sold my house in the mountains, and moved my family and business to town. My gas bill has gone from $600 to $800 per month to $200 per month (four drivers) in spite of a 25% price increase. We'll be replacing my 20 mpg pickup with a 50 mpg Prius soon. My heating and electric bills have dropped from $500 to $600 per month to under $200. Where we live now is far less beautiful, and far less peaceful than my home in the mountains, but we will adjust. Conservation is clearly possible, the potential savings are significant, and can be achieved on a short time scale. The flip side is that any increase in production from continental shelf or north slope drilling will take years, and will be minor in terms of total volume compared to the amounts we import. I would also point out that the Gulf of Mexico is not off limits to US oil companies.
2. Everybody says they hate taxes, but the fact is we get something back in exchange: roads to drive on. All that oil wouldn't be of much use if there was no where to drive.
3. Your statement that the people and organizations concerned with protecting the environment have a secret agenda to destroy capitalism is beneath contempt. When you can't paint 'em all with a broad brush, use a roller, or better yet break out the Wagner! Yes there are environmentalists who are also Marxists, but there are also a lot of ordinary working people and business people who are concerned about our degradation of the earth, and who support the goals of the environmental movement. There are also business people who think democracy, taxes, government regulation, and human rights are an infringement to their right to amass money and power, but that doesn't mean we can label all business people oligarchs or fascists.
4. The connection between our wasteful use of energy and the weak dollar is not debatable. A strong dollar may be good for the world, but the dollar is weak for good reason. We buy too much oil, and waste too much of it. We borrow money from overseas to pay for it. We may fool ourselves that this debt is manageable, but the rest of the world does not agree. The weak dollars is how they tell us that they don't trust our ability to repay the loans.
   

Your answer to Travis sounds very familiar, especially in your reaction to his criticism of some environmental groups. "

"Your statement that the people and organizations concerned with protecting the environment have a secret agenda to destroy capitalism is beneath contempt. When you can't paint 'em all with a broad brush, use a roller, or better yet break out the Wagner! Yes there are environmentalists who are also Marxists, but there are also a lot of ordinary working people and business people who are concerned about our degradation of the earth, and who support the goals of the environmental movement. There are also business people who think democracy, taxes, government regulation, and human rights are an infringement to their right to amass money and power, but that doesn't mean we can label all business people oligarchs or fascists."

I doubt that Travis means groups which are sensible about conservation and is thinking of those which are more extremist in their views and actions, which he defines as being Marxist and anti-American industry. Yes, the Sierra Club can take some extremely absurd positions. Even you admit there are some environmentalists like those he mentions. Sounds like a knee-jerk reaction by someone a bit sensitive about being an environmentalist who may have those tendencies.

I still hope you can adjust to living in the city. I would resent with great bitterness being forced to live in a city, especially if it were done by taxes on fuel in excess of what was needed for highways. Feel sorry for the Europeans who are taxed for the purpose of forcing them to drive less, own smaller cars, make them live in cities, use public transport and many of the secondary roads are still one-lane nightmares full of holes, because the money is used for projects that buy votes.

Another cause of the weak dollar is raising the minimum wage, thereby increasing all wages proportionally, with no increase in production. The one sensible thing to do is produce more of our own fuel, never export fuel just to make more $ elsewhere and tell the whining anti-capitalist, anti-American environmentalists groups [and just those groups] to take a flying leap. Then we also have to be energy efficient. But no one should have to make a sudden major change in standard of living. There are many things in the works which can reduce energy costs. There are alternatives to oil, such as making synthetic gas from coal at a much lower price. Unfortunately the government and politicians of both parties are more of a roadblock than enablers.

"the Siera Club and the rest of the eco-economic terrorists that is the eco-lobby. (Their main goal is not saving the environment but rather to trash the US economy and the US industrial complex.)"

Travis may well believe that there are 'reasonable' environmental groups, but there is not a hint of that in his statement. On the contrary this is a categorical statement:

the eco-lobby = eco-economic terrorists

not:

the eco-lobby = eco-economic terrorists + some other reasonable groups

What I am sensitive about is the use of cheap debating tactics, the use of the same old shop worn right-wing or left-wing 'talking points' in a rational grown-up discussion. The slogans about 'government is the problem', 'environmentalism is a subversive plot' are well known staples of the conservative movement.

As to your concern about people being forced by taxes 'to drive less, own smaller cars, make them live in cities, use public transport', it seems to me that most of the Europeans (who have been through this) posting in this discussion are pretty content with their situation. They take some pride in having already made the the transition to greater fuel efficiency. They seem to be incredulous and slightly amused that it is taking the US so long. The 'bitterness' seems only to come from this side of the pond.

GA

G A Taganan. Very well considered. New energy sources are the key.

Dragon

And from me.

Stu.

Me too..

G.A. Taganan.

GA.

Well put Ken (as usual!!)

Just out of curiosity Ken; Where did Big Media come in at in that list of lobbies.

There is more than one form of lobbying. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if media coverage (lopsided as it is) didn't have as much or more effect on congress than other forms of lobbying.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that you might not be seeing the Big Media picture.

Good question. I'd guess that the Newspaper Association of America and the National Association of Broadcasters are the two biggest media groups. They tend to be conservative, and that is reflected in the current conservative tilt to the Big Media today, I suppose. Of course, the news media are expected to be objective, but that is rarely the case in practice. However, I think that several decades ago, news reporting was far more factual, and far less "infotainment".*

Senator Obama was a cosponsor of a bill to limit just how "big" Big Media can become. Predictably, Big Media (and its ally, the white house) whined and complained when the bill passed almost unanimously.

In a resounding commitment to stopping further media consolidation, the Senate near unanimously voted for a "resolution of disapproval," which nullified earlier FCC rules allowing for cross-ownership of newspapers and TV stations in a single market.

Since the vote, Big Media has groaned and griped.

The Newspaper Association of America's President and CEO John F. Sturm called it "incomprehensible," saying it ignored "well-established benefits that cross-ownership brings to local communities."

The National Association of Broadcasters has called efforts to overturn the FCC's decision "unnecessary."

Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal piped up to protect consolidation, saying that today's media landscape offers Americans "far more media choices than ever before, including ever-growing cable, satellite and Internet offerings."

The White House, which has threatened a veto, claimed "citizens now have access to a multitude of additional sources of information."

Re gasoline prices and energy, Big Media has supported the current administration, with glowing reporting on "the hydrogen economy," with reporting on "the debate over global warming" long after the debate among scientists was effectively over, and with reporting (in the more arch-conservative outlets) suggesting that current gasoline prices are caused by US environmental policy, rather than the more obvious week dollar and high oil prices. Some Big Media sources have suggested that drilling in the ANWR would bring gasoline prices down (but fail to mention that doing so would take ten years, and that the likely reduction would be $.010 per gallon, or perhaps less)

The media in general tend to blow with the wind, so when Obama is in office, (or even if McCain makes it in) I imagine Big Media will not lean so far to the right.

* Fox "News" is by far the most biased and the closest to the supermarket tabloids in quality of reporting. Their coverage of the Iraq war, in which the viewer could ride along with the soldiers was obscene, giving the viewers a video game sense for what is grizzly business. If they had shown our guys getting blown up or coming back in body bags, and the Iraqi kids being blown up, then they would be providing a balanced picture (albeit one that probably does not need to be brought into every living room -- ordinary TV is plenty violent enough). Showing only one side is simply the worst sort of propaganda, completely disguising the fact that both our guys and innocent Iraqis were being torn to bits. No real news organization should have agreed to the administration's dictates that the coverage be so one-sided -- but most "news" organizations did.

Hi ken,

I have only recently had Foxtel installed...................to me it has been a real pleasure watching "Fox News," "CNN," and "BBC News," compared the "utter crap" that is dished up by the "Free to Air" TV channels here in Australia.........and as for the tabloids.......words completely fail me.........they are that poor a quality one would not use them as an emergency in the "loo.".............If you get my drift. This is why I get electronic copies of several international newspapers sent to me...........at least I get to know what's going on in the world.........I think!!!!

..........and the Iraqi kids being blown up, then they would be providing a balanced picture (albeit one that probably does not need to be brought into every living room -- ordinary TV is plenty violent enough).

I think that your statement is PROBABLY correct.............sometimes I wonder whether or not more graphic pictures would help people see the reality of things, but,................on the other hand........... they would more than likely become desensitised to these type of situations in a very short time. A "lot" of people in our society already have a complete and utter disregard for life as it is!!!!!!

We have a saying in Australia, "When it comes to news, do you want the truth or are you happy with your News Limited".

It makes you glad he is American.

BAB

Can we send him back?

I understand rape is never pleasant, therefor you get complaints. It is completely understandable.

Confusius say: " If rape is inevitable, lay back and enjoy it." Just haven't figured out how to do that!!

Confusius say; "Rape is impossible, woman can run faster with skirt up than man with pants down."

Very well put, my thoughts exactly!!

Some spot prices on 19/5/2008:

Petrol typically £1.10 per litre and derv £1.22 per litre (all £GBP).

Similar to here. Do you know about 'PetrolPrices.com' website? if you sign up for free & give your postcode and fuel type they e-mail weekly with the lowest 5 prices in your area of the UK.

Brunei, Like the rest of Borneo, the Indonesian archepelego and Northern Australia produces Gas and almost Pure diesel. hence there are no refining costs. the current problem is not supply of raw product it is due to a lack of refining capacity. North America and arabia both produce light and mid range oils, petrol, diesel kero etc while Venezuala and southern Australia produces heavy oils, which come out as thick gooee paste. Venazualan oill is known to contain up to 45% vanadium, not much good in the car! Hence the price is subject to odd variables, not least of which is the country size. Brunei is only slightly larger than Singapore with a tiny population to match consequently one or two wells will supply them for yonks. USA of course has both high consumptuion AND domestic production so the price reflects that where as the Poms have a labor Government who will do anything to take money off teh working man and give it to their mates, just like Hitler did in Germany.

Indonesia with its huge and increasing now population is faced a big problem with oil production and gasoline. It seems their hour X has come and knocked at their doors. Later and early this X-hour to come for every oil addicted nation. How they'll cope with it when main origin of national wealth gone will be depend on how they could predict this moment and how they've been prepared.

I do agree that such countries as Brunei and UAE being relatively small get now a huge opportunity of present market situation. And I so glad for them.

I am not live in oil production region and I have not any connection with oil industry. I do understand dangerous for economics being such biased to the only origin of National income. Time to time in ours media we can hear and watch how officials and scientists talk an endless speeches about needs of economic diversification, new innovative industries and tralala. But really nothing done.

It takes so much time when people can be converted from manipulating state to thinking one, no matter their formal education level.

All the crude oil samples that I have seen from Southern Australia are certainly not as you describe ??????(Name would be nice-why don't you join and make yourself known to all?)....................the crude is often called "coitus nee aqua" about the only thing it is good for is making petrol. One thing it does have is a high wax content.

In the refineries only a small % of Bass Strait crude is used with much larger percentages of crude from e.g. Liberia. Middle East, Brunei, dependant on the run.

Does that translate to "Fucking close to water"?

Instead of "close to"........near.............but certainly close enough.

Yep.........that's our Bass strait crude.

Yes it is because of your Oil that we invaded Afganistan after the Tali ban withdrew from allow us to build a pipeline from your country to Pakistan to make it easier to transport.

Nonsense. Not to worry Kazakstan. Life in the Tules (that once were there before a conspiracy destroyed them) explains it.

It's not nonsense.

It wasn't until after the Tali ban backed out of a deal to allow ESSO to build a pipeline from Kazakstand to Pakistan that the World Trade Center was attacked and we're in Afganistan removing the Tali ban from power instead of hunting so called terrorists.

Afganistan is noted for one thing and one thing only, poppy seeds.

You all!

Brunei is sitting on oil and gas, not much left but deal is salaries are very low, fuel /electricity therefore cheap simply at cost price with little profit for Shell and Government.Oil and gas does not belong to the Shell and Sultan only therefore all humans in Brunei get some benefit. Bad it is cause many are very wasteful with that cheap energy, do not even switch off lights and run AC all times and do not walk 10 m.

Rgds

from Brunei!

It's a nature of people: do not be care of what they have right now and be so pity of that then. But I do not dare to blame anyone as I do the same that people do.

Gasoline is about $1.35 CDN in Quebec, Canada. These days we are at par with $US. The price often goes up by about 10 cents overnight and then decrease slowly by about 8 cents over a week or two. Then the cycle repeats. This has been going on for a few years. All the companies are perfectly synchronised but the gouv. cannot find any proof of collusion... This rising saw tooth price action is like a torture especially when you try to catch the bottom but miss it. It can make a $7 to $10 dollar difference per filling.

Here in New Zealand the price for a litre of 91 octane; $1.97, 95 octane; $2.02 and diesel; $1.68 plus road user tax on diesels.

This is pretty much a mixed bag. Compared to much of the rest of the world, US gas prices, even with the recent massive increases, are still a bargain, especially when you consider gross income levels. But this is an incomplete comparison.

In many other developed countries, a far larger part of the price goes for taxes, which at least in theory provide benefits for the common good. In the US the taxes are a small part of the price, and the larger part either goes back to the oil producing nations, or to the energy corporations, who use a good chunk of the profits to subvert our government and thwart the common will.

While US incomes are still largely competitive with incomes in other developed economies, we pay considerably more for health care and education than others. This at least partly offsets the lower gas prices we still enjoy.

Then again, factoring in the large size of the country, and our penchant for living in sprawling suburbs far from our workplaces (which are usually poorly served by public transportation), the lower per gallon (liter) price may be more than offset by the larger amounts used.

But in the US we also devote an astronomical amount of our tax money, both in absolute and in relative terms, for our military, who's primary objective (despite what some will say) is to protect our access to other people's natural resources, chiefly oil. For some reason, most other countries seem to have less interest in this, an yet somehow they still currently manage to buy petroleum on the world market. Maybe this has been a wise decision, but it looks increasingly like our belligerence may actually be starting to hurt our access. But wise or foolish, we should include at least a large portion of the high cost of our military in the real price for gas.

On the plus side, the US is still one of the best places in the world to start your own business. The best parts of our education system are among the best in the world. And since we are a melting pot for people from all over the world, we undoubtedly have the finest cuisine in the world, and of course the most beautiful women. Which is a very good thing, because the quality of our beer is pretty sub-standard.

As I said, it's pretty much a mixed bag.