Quote: "Why are Americans so angry about petrol prices?"

[ardee_selby]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13338754

Can "netters" from other countries add more info on their pricing?

Cheers - Richard

[1964 S1]

I'm not sure what a netter is, but speaking from inside USA, yes, we're angry about petrol prices. Who in the world isn't?
Mostly your charts taught me about country by country fuel taxes, not the cost of fuel.

[Elanintheforest]

I'm not angry !! I do think that the US should play its part in encouraging more fuel efficient everyday vehicles by increasing its pump prices to that of Europe...maybe a bit more. It's quite normal nowadays for a small petrol car to get more than 50mpg average, so there would be no need to complain about the prices....just trade in the F100 (for $50) and save the planet. Think of all that scrap metal that could be exported to China which would also help your balance of payments deficit.

It's rich coming from a bloke who drives a Jag as an everyday car, and runs a couple of V12 Jags for fun.....but that's a choice, just as it's a choice in the US to run a huge pickup truck, usually with one person on board and no load.

There, nothing controversial here I feel

Mark....happy to pay ?1.35 a litre for petrol.

[trw99]

Blimey Mark - you can tell it's Friday 13th!

Tim - Unhappy to be paying ?5.95 per gallon

[Elanintheforest]

Lucky for some.......

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

I share Mark's feelings; America does have a blinkered view on these type of things.
I do worry about us all using the Worlds natural resources in the way we do.
When BP discovered North Sea Oil in 1975, they told us that those resources would expire in approximately 30 years.
Nobody took any notice & so many pocketed the profits/taxes for all of those years.
Take a look at GB now, having not invested in the future.
At the flick of a switch or turn of a tap all of the lights will go off.
What a bloomin' state to be in.

Back on subject; the prices here rise & fall like a Yo-Yo ( or should that be Jo-Jo?)
Strangely fuel prices rise during the week & drop back down on the following Monday.
Holiday periods also see price rises.
That has nothing to do with tax, just sheer profiteering.
But hey, what government would put measures in place to prevent it when they are taking their rake off from it.
A case of ever decreasing circles & one of my favourite GrUmPs.

Cheers
John

P.S. A glimmer of hope on the horizon; BMW are promising to downsize their engines.
IMHO, about bloomin' time after all of those big Limo's & 4x4's that they've been cashing in on.

[Elanintheforest]

It looks like we'll see a massive change over the next 10 to 15 years, as the demand from China and India is rising exponentially, and oil is getting harder to find. The ex-CEO of Shell for the US was interviewed recently about where fuel prices are going, and industry expectations are that it will hit $10 a gallon within 5 years in the US, and maybe double that within 10 years.

Part of that will be the tax that the world will demand is put on fossil fuel, to fund the development of a realistic alternative, but a large part will be on the cost of the fuel itself, as supply gets more expensive whilst demand increases considerably. That's without additional pressure from the global climate change lobby.

So we baby boomers have had the best of it all, really!

But there really are cars out there that are super-economical, and folks who complain about the price of petrol driving a car that 'only' does 40mpg can half their bills if they want to. The Nissan Micra diesel does 85mpg, but it doesn't come with a paper bag to put over your head so you won't be recognised...you have to provide that. If you drive an F100 that struggles to get 20mpg, you can quarter your bills. LPG will reduce bills by a third, but only if you keep the car for 3 years, with average mileage, to pay for the conversion.

But hey, with beer at ?24 a gallon (I can make that at home) and bottled mineral water at ?15 a gallon (free from a tap), petrol is still cheap.

I think that I'd find fractional distillation of the crude oil a very messy and complex thing to do in my garage.


Mark

[SJ Lambert]

Around $1.50 per litre in Victoria, Australia at the minute - I get the hump over diesel costing more than petrol these days....

Haven't been over to New Zealand lately - but a couple of years ago prices in NZ $$$ were very similar to our prices here now, so I shudder to think what they might be there now.

10 years ago I reckon fuel was 80 cents a litre here if memory serves.

I remember it hitting $1 per litre and not being happy about it. I cycle to work quite a bit these days!!!

[collins_dan]

I'm an american and have lived and traveled extensively abroad when I worked for Shell. I would love to see the hulking behemoths off the road, they are ridiculous and irresponsible. Would higher gas prices get people to ditch these things? Maybe, but would I want to put money into the hands of our government to find a solution to this problem, no way. We've got a broken system over here where the most vocal and impractical minorities are throwing things at each other and not getting much done. The more frustrating part for me is that the current high prices are more than a function of supply and demand. Financial speculation is playing a huge role. Look at all commodities right now (gold, wheat, oil....). If only it was as simple as taxing petrol, I'd be the first to raise my hand and reach for my wallet. I drive a VW, so it wouldn't hurt that much. Dan

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

It looks like we'll see a massive change over the next 10 to 15 years, as the demand from China and India is rising exponentially, and oil is getting harder to find. The ex-CEO of Shell for the US was interviewed recently about where fuel prices are going, and industry expectations are that it will hit $10 a gallon within 5 years in the US, and maybe double that within 10 years.

Part of that will be the tax that the world will demand is put on fossil fuel, to fund the development of a realistic alternative, but a large part will be on the cost of the fuel itself, as supply gets more expensive whilst demand increases considerably. That's without additional pressure from the global climate change lobby.

So we baby boomers have had the best of it all, really!

But there really are cars out there that are super-economical, and folks who complain about the price of petrol driving a car that 'only' does 40mpg can half their bills if they want to. The Nissan Micra diesel does 85mpg, but it doesn't come with a paper bag to put over your head so you won't be recognised...you have to provide that. If you drive an F100 that struggles to get 20mpg, you can quarter your bills. LPG will reduce bills by a third, but only if you keep the car for 3 years, with average mileage, to pay for the conversion.

But hey, with beer at ?24 a gallon (I can make that at home) and bottled mineral water at ?15 a gallon (free from a tap), petrol is still cheap.

I think that I'd find fractional distillation of the crude oil a very messy and complex thing to do in my garage.


Mark

All valid & great points mentioned there, I think.
What really upsets me about GB is that there was masses of money available from the sale of north sea gas & oil which should have then been put to use in renewable energy.
I will never forget an Uncle of mine who when looking at the tide race in the Severn at Portishead, said to me as a little lad, "look at all of that potential energy!"
Now nobody can raise the funds to put a barrier across that stretch of water; what a waste.
Oh & the "green" & "NIMBY" arguments against just do not add up.

Britain has made attempts to take the big burners off the roads by imposing very high road tax charges on them but the majority of owners have so much wealth that it doesn't worry them; rather like those banger & crash historic racers discussed in another thread here.
They are most likely ones to put bottled water on the table as well, because it's "the thing to do"

I'm just lovin' this thread & letting off a bit of steam

Yes I'm a "baby boomer" & loved every part of my youth; in GB it was the best era ever, although I doubt if the Miners would go along with that.
I really do pity today's kids, they've got a major struggle to contend with & its no wonder that so many of them give up early

Cheers
John

[ardee_selby]

We caused a bit of a kerfuffle with the opening celebration.

It was the first time I'd come across free petrol!!

Those were the days!

Cheers - Richard

[Elanintheforest]

I don?t think that the oil revenue was all blown on steak & kidney pie and Watneys Red Barrel, John!! Britain was bankrupt after WW2, and owed a huge amount from war loans to the US Government. Infrastructure had to be re-built, industry re-financed to get back off the ground, and the nationalisation program funded.

After 20 years it was getting under control when the kind President Johnson suggested to Harold Wilson that the UK should support America?s efforts in Vietnam. If they didn?t, America wouldn?t support Stirling, to the extent that they would start to sell all holdings, which at that time amounted to about 10% of the total debt.

Britain didn?t, America did, and Sterling was devalued by nearly 20%. The inflation and industrial strife that followed for the next 15 years would have sunk Britain if it hadn?t been for the oil revenues, which were largely spent just keeping things going.

The war loans were only completely paid off a couple of years ago.

And now, China is funding 8% of the US debt now running at $14,000,000,000,000?or $14 trillion.

May we live in interesting times, indeed!

Mark

[elansprint71]

Anyone tried running a Elan on Pernod? It's cheaper than gasoline and smells much better too.

[RichC]

What Octane would the Pernod work out at? probably best to leave it to the citroen DSs. any spills of the green stuff would be a match the LHM fluid leaks ...

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

I don?t think that the oil revenue was all blown on steak & kidney pie and Watneys Red Barrel, John!! Britain was bankrupt after WW2, and owed a huge amount from war loans to the US Government. Infrastructure had to be re-built, industry re-financed to get back off the ground, and the nationalisation program funded.

After 20 years it was getting under control when the kind President Johnson suggested to Harold Wilson that the UK should support America?s efforts in Vietnam. If they didn?t, America wouldn?t support Stirling, to the extent that they would start to sell all holdings, which at that time amounted to about 10% of the total debt.

Britain didn?t, America did, and Sterling was devalued by nearly 20%. The inflation and industrial strife that followed for the next 15 years would have sunk Britain if it hadn?t been for the oil revenues, which were largely spent just keeping things going.

The war loans were only completely paid off a couple of years ago.
And now, China is funding 8% of the US debt now running at $14,000,000,000,000?or $14 trillion.

May we live in interesting times, indeed!

Mark

Oh no Mark; just don't get me going on War debts, for me another bone of contention.
I'm ashamed to admit that with my first vote I voted for "this will not effect the pound in your pocket" Wilson. What an error of judgment
I only voted on one other subject after that & my side lost.
No prizes for guessing what

Interesting times? Very scary is my take on it.

I've got to give in here; my post count is rocketing out of control.

A good weekend to all.
Watching but now refraining.
Cheers
John