Gas Prices: You Think You Got It Bad?

Sheila MacVicar Reports That In Europe, Cars Chug Down $10 Dollar-A-Gallon Gas

(CBS)  Even Saudi Arabia's promise to pump more oil onto the market hasn't dropped the price of a barrel of crude, which hovered Wednesday morning at around $137 a barrel - very close to the record high hit earlier this month.

CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar reported Wednesday from London, where any driver will tell you, it's not just Americans suffering at the pump, and they certainly aren't suffering the most.

Filling up isn't going to feel better anytime soon. Almost everywhere, consumers are feeling the pain.

Eye-watering prices at the pumps across the globe can make what Americans pay seem like a bargain, and getting behind the wheel feel like an outrageous extravagance.

"It's quite luxurious driving a car these days," one Londoner told MacVicar.

In the U.S., the average price is $4.10 for a gallon. Russians pay about the same.

In Japan, it's a whopping $6 a gallon, but Israelis and Europeans get hit the hardest, paying up to $10 for one gallon of gas.

Oil analyst John Hall told CBS News that "speculators are very much to blame for the increased costs we've seen in the last year or so."

But Hall also points the finger at other villains: governments - especially in Europe - cashing in.

"Sixty percent of the price we pay in the EU is duty and tax on top, so, in effect, those countries are making more money out of OPEC oil than OPEC is," said Hall.

Those figures are not too far off. For the $7 - $10 a gallon European consumers pay out, more than half goes straight into government coffers.

It doesn't sit well with some Britons. "We're a small country and our government milks us for every penny," complained one London gas station patron.

There are some places where gas is still a bargain, adds MacVicar, and it's generally countries that produce oil - and subsidize the cost for domestic consumption.

So, in Mexico, filling up at $2 a gallon doesn't feel so bad; or in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, where the price is about $1.50; and in Iran it's $1.20.

The best bargain of all: Oil-rich Venezuela, at just $0.15 for a gallon.

With no risk of cheap gasoline coming to a pump near you anytime soon, said MacVicar, there's not much to be done but get used to a thinner wallet, or think twice before you get behind the wheel of your car.

[trishab4]

Yes and the gas buyers are taxed and that money goes to fund public transportation. Thats so totally unfair! Then they have to put up with buses and trains everywhere.


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Posted by faith_in_w at 09:02 AM : Jun 25, 2008

-Are you blind or is it you work for Exxon? Or is it you''re a shareholder...

[anonymous851]

No, you got it wrong... Obama won''t fix the problem. He said it loud and clear that he wants to do more solar, depending on wind, and nuclear instead of supplying oil for transportation. What an idiot! he is not on our side. Don''t you guys realize the price started skyrocketing after Nancy Pelosi took over the Senate. If a Republican had of been on the seat, things won''t be so bad. Don''t count on a Democrat for big change in economy!!

[smith266]

Obama will fix it.

[dmgenet]

30% of gas prices today are a result of speculators. Crush them and your bill will get lower. Good luck.

[frootloop47]

txgrouch2004,
I guess OBAMA is a boomer. He was born in ''61. So, maybe you won''t have to hold your breath to long ;-)

[txgrouch2004]

frootloop47 wrote
I am going to try to stop it.
I''''m voting OBAMA!!! :-0
---------------
That will take too long. I want it NOW NOW NOW!

I''m gonna hold my BREATH until I GET IT!!!

Isn''t Obama a Boomer? I am, too. I was born the same year as Obama.

A REAL BOOMER DOESN''T WAIT FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT. A REAL BOOMER GETS IT RIGHT NOW!

[frootloop47]

txgrouch2004,
I am going to try to stop it.
I''m voting OBAMA!!! :-0
btw: i b a txgrouch too. (SATx)

[txgrouch2004]

frootloop47 wrote
I''''m PO''''d too :-)
-----------------
So what IS stopping us???

Maybe it takes the Boomers to stop the Boomers.

BTW, did you hear the Supreme Court just cut the damages from the Exxon Valdez case from $2.5 billion to $0.5 billion?

The captain of the Exxon Valdez was born in 1946 - the same year as Bill Clinton and George W Bush. BABY BOOMERS, ALL OF THEM.

[frootloop47]

Hey quit picking of us BOOMERS.
I''m PO''d too :-)

[txgrouch2004]

luvwknd69 declared
Majority rules so we the people.....need to stop this madness!
----------
I totally agree. What''s stopping us?

SIXTEEN YEARS OF BABY BOOMERS.

Slick Willy is a Boomer. Dubya is a Boomer. Hillary is a Boomer. Joseph Hazelwood is a Boomer. 60% of Congress are Boomers.

I THINK THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING...

[whitemale08]

deacon20081- You''re right my dad moved us out to California in the 70''s because he was an engineer for California Oil and then he was laid off. He hasn''t found a comparable job since.

That was all fake peak oil crisis. A myth created by Republicans much like the myth of WMD''s in Iraq.

[lochlan-2009]

You cant compare UK $4 gas prices with USA, the two economies and currenciey values are different, the UK pound is worth about $2 US, so a chap earning 400 pounds a week is making the equiv of $800 US, so if you earn $400 a week and pay $4 for a gallon of gas for your mower and your friend in the UK is earning the equiv of $800 a week and pays the equiv of $4 for the same gallon, the UK gas is HALF the cost it is here or $2 a gallon.

Posted by newster1

How dare you point out the blatant misinformation American media is trying to spin on us? Gas is also 11 cents in Venezuala, but don''t look over there, you''re suppose to be happy with your 300% increase in energy costs that make every other thing in the country go up in price.

[txgrouch2004]

whitemale08 whined
you guys can call me names all you want
------------------------------
Had enough?

If you''re not going to blame Carter for the disasters of his years, then don''t blame Reagan for any imaginary problems you come up with.

OKAY???

[txgrouch2004]

liberalme wrote
He and Cheney are beneath vomit and should be held responsible for the bloodshed in Iraq and averting going after Bin Laden, these two murdering treasonist sorry excuses for anything human should be hanged!
-----------------
Okey-dokey. Yah, they''ll hang right next to Bill Clinton for giving his DIRECT, ACTIVE, AND KNOWING assistance to the preparations for the 9/11 attack.

Yes, I have first-hand knowledge of information to support my accusation. But I won''t waste my time getting "LOL''ed" and "Yah, right''ed" for sharing it here AGAIN.

[deacon20081]

During the late 70''s I worked in the California Oil Fields, there was an OIL GLUT! We were all laid off.
There was a shortage of refinery output but NOT OIL.
We "fractured" wells with explosives to CAP THEM.
That is a Fact.

[whitemale08]

you guys can call me names all you want because that''s what Republicans do when they can''t take responsibility for their own failures.

Did Carter seem pathetic because he tried to deal with a horrible economy passed on as a result of the war in Vietnam war. Maybe.

But his policies were way better then Reagans and certainly 10 times better then George W. Bush.

And now John McCain wants to continue these failed Republican policies? Give me a break

[lpgideon]

Yup txgrouch, I remember that also license numbers odd and even. And as I recall, wasn''t it up to that time that stations checked oil, filled tires and washed windshields? Thereafter, that freebie went out the window. I remember when a big fire hit a Texaco or Shell plant (can''t remember which) in southern LA and prices zoomed because of the loss. That refinery did not refine oil for gasoline. It was for other chemicals. See how people can get prices to rise on rumors?

[liberalme]

can''''t understand that troll who tries to smear Reagan by DENYING THE BEST REMEMBERED FAILURE OF A DEMOCRAT. What could he possibly expect to accomplish? Does he think anybody is stupid enough to believe ANYTHING he says???

Posted by txgrouch2004 at 01:51 PM

Actually, none of that really matters in the here and now---
Bushs bloody hands, greed for oil and lack of humanity has beaten every lousy president this country has ever had.

He and Cheney are beneath vomit and should be held responsible for the bloodshed in Iraq and averting going after Bin Laden, these two murdering treasonist sorry excuses for anything human should be hanged!

[txgrouch2004]

TROLL ALERT - TROLL ALERT - TROLL ALERT

whitemale08 is a troll, just spewing random garbage to stir the pot.

Anybody who thinks Wal-Mart was a big employer during the Reagan years is REVEALING HIS YOUTH.

[txgrouch2004]

whitemale08 won''t give up
The only way Reagan got everybody back to work was ...everybody is working at Walmart
--------------------
Wal-Mart didn''t get big until THE CLINTON YEARS.

And you STILL haven''t denied all the problems of the Carter years.