Fuel Price - USA versus UK

The USA is experiencing rising fuel costs which are causing concern for economic growth and the impact on businesses.

But it's interesting when you analyze the figures, and realize how bad things really are in the UK

"Gas prices are off to a fast start in 2012. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is up more than 8 percent since the end of 2011, rising from $3.25 per gallon to $3.52

...If this pace continues, the national average should hit $4 a gallon by May, if not sooner."
Rising Gas Prices: Not Demand Driven - Businessweek

Doing the maths, I work that out to be £2.24 a gallon of fuel, something we can only dream of.

Currently the UK is paying on average £6.06 per gallon ($9.51)!

They wonder why business suffers in the UK...

Here's an interesting infographic that gives the breakdown of the revenue share of a litre of unleaded fuel at 132.9p and a litre of diesel at 137.9p



Image courtesy of The Price of Fuel - PetrolPrices.com

So I think the US has a way to go before they get near the obscene price the UK has to pay, which seems set to keep rising

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...But the UK is so small in comparison with the US (the whole of Britain would fit into North Carolina, apparently) so presumably we can get to wherever we want while travelling only a fraction of the amount of mileage we'd have to in the States. Also our cars are a lot smaller and more economical.

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The rise in oil prices is defiantly having a major effect on this country, but it's all down to supply and demand, the world is developing so fast and the population is increasing, countries like China, India and all developing countries are increasing there orders for oil and oil companies cannot not produce it fast enough, we rely on it so much they can basically charge what they like.

Maybes electric cars are the way forward?

My idea of the US from a UK perspective for some parts of the US is to imagine here in the UK if there were literally no roads, no paths, only duel carriage ways and motorways, imagine if you could not even get to the local shop without use of a car (quite common for lazy people in UK), if you dare to walk you might be mugged, murdered or eaten alive by a croc and the US is quite risky walking too

Interesting point, the US is certainly vast compared to our little island, and towns are more spaced out, almost forcing you to have to drive from shop to shop, but I wonder if the average American work commuter does any more mileage than his UK counterpart?

Be interesting to get a view point from any US members?

Plus, one thing I've noticed over the years with States, their cars seem to get smaller! Gone are the old slab sided gas guzzlers. You see a lot of similar models that you get in Europe or elsewhere, albeit normally with bigger engines, where as years ago, manufacturers would develop separate models. Remember the good old 1980's Ford Escort? Compare the American version to the European one.

Ah well, maybe TCCuk is right, at least we finally seem to be moving forward with Electric car development!

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As a serious petrol head this is a subject that's close to my heart.

I've had to sell my sports car in favour of using a diesel focus because I could no longer warrant the extra cost of fuel or road tax.

It would be interesting to discover what percentage the tax is on a gallon of petrol in the usa.

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I found an interesting site while searching for a tax comparison. Entertainingly called bye bye blighty it does give a comparison of the price per litre for several countries.

Petrol Prices in Different Countries 2012

From what I can discover the tax in the usa is 18.4c per gallon, although individual states have the option to place an extra tax if they wish.

I'm not good at math so I'll leave it to someone else to work out the percentages.

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if i remember correctly when oil hit $140 a barrel a couple years ago, pump price was about 1.20/ltr... now oil is around $100, yet pump price has reached 1.40/ltr where i am...

has refining cost gone up? which seems unlikely...

who's profiting from making the recession even worse?

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Yep its a fair point.

I think many different bodies have tried and failed to a)reduce the ridiculous amount of duty we pay & b) put pressure on the big companies to reduce the cost. Problem with that is we all need fuel to get to work & they know that so someone stating we shouldnt fill up for a day may have a small impact but in reality we will just fill up the next day

I remember when i started driving - 4 star leaded petrol £1.20 a gallon & that increased 2p per gallon in a budget! £10 kept my little mini running for 4weeks - £10 in my diesel car gets me what 60-miles? - around 4/5 days driving

** clives showing his age **

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With both my cars on vapour i need to fill up this weekend, the MG cost £60 to fill up last time, that was 6 weeks ago, the Passat cost £89 which wasnt even on empty when i filled up last.

With the below story emerging i feel a painfull weekend coming up

Petrol prices to reach record high - UK News - MSN News UK

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