Most Expensive and Cheapest Gas Prices around the World

gas prices
Gas Prices

Most Expensive and Cheapest Gas Prices around the World

Argh, Gas Prices! Even though gas prices have come down over the past few weeks, let's be honest… it is still “Pain at the Pump” for most drivers out on the road.

High gas prices causes us to do crazy things. Such as carpooling to work with that guy you hate, drinking less with friends, and not buying frivolous items over the Internet. You also generally plan your car trips more carefully. Does the price of gas justify you going to the mall today?

We Americans complain about how bad gas prices are here, but my automotive colleagues in European countries such as the UK feel the pain all the time. I want you to think of how large a quart is for a second. Across the Atlantic they pay for fuel by the liter, which is about the same size as a quart. The average price for a liter of fuel is $2.16 and you need four liters roughly to make a gallon. That means it would cost on average around $8.64 a gallon in the UK… ouch!

The current average price for a gallon of gas in the US, according to the US Energy Information Administration, is $3.56. Don't you love America? 🙂

The simple reality though is that most of us have to drive and use our cars, no matter the price of gas here or in Europe. We are slaves to those posted prices at gas stations. The only way around this would be if you owned a refinery (of course if you owned a refinery you probably are not reading this and if you are, thank you!)

Even though I feel for the British, because they need to pay some ridiculously high gas prices, in some countries it could be worse. While gas prices are crazy high, GDP (Gross Domestic Product) over in the UK is relatively high. According to the World Bank's data it is roughly $35,600 per capita in the UK. That means while yes gas is expensive, incomes somewhat match the high fuel prices.

Where might getting gas be even more painful? If you lived in the African country of Eritrea (Yes, this was a Wikipedia lookup) where GDP is roughly $700 per year, filling your tank would eat-up a huge amount of your income. How much? Roughly 12.12% of an average Eritrean's budget would go to a 10 gallon tank costing on average $84.90 in US dollars. Compared to the UK where it would only be a paltry 0.24% of GDP per year at $94.27 for that same 10 gallon tank, prices don't seem quite as bad.

This lead me to determine that Eritrea is “The Most Expensive Country to Buy Fuel.” While Norway ranks the top of the list according to most rankings, Norwegians also have a very high GDP ($53,300) putting them 5th on my list.

Where would it be least expensive to get gas in the world? According to the British Insurance Agency Staveley Head Venezuela has the cheapest fuel prices in the world. A gallon of gas would cost you on average a paltry 18 cents, meaning 10 gallons would be $1.80. That same amount of money would not even buy half a gallon in the US. In the UK it would not be enough to even move your car 300 feet!

Moral of the story, you better learn some Spanish and move to Venezuela if you want to buy some cheap gas. I can only imagine all the fun Venezuelans have in their cars when they don't need to worry about gas prices. Unfortunately, in most of the world we do.

Countries with the Most Expensive Gas Prices

1. Eritrea – $700 – $84.90 – 12.12%
2. Greece – $27,600 – $87.60 – 0.31%
3. Italy – $30,100 – $88 – 0.29%
4. Britain – $35,600 – $94.27 – 0.24%
5. Norway – $53,300 – $99.04 – 0.18%

Countries with the Cheapest Gas Prices

1. Venezuela $10,700 (GDP) – $1.80 (10 gallons)  – 0.01% of annual GDP
2. Bahrain $27,300 – $7.80 – 0.02 %
3. Libya – $14,100 – $5.40 – 0.03%
4. Saudi Arabia – $17,200 – $8.00 – 0.04%
5. Turkmenistan – $6,900 – $7.20 – 0.10% or
6. Qatar – $93,700 – $11.31 – 0.10%

Remember this list according to GDP and gas prices, so it is different than other gas price lists you might see.

What do you think about my gas price list?  Think my math is whack?  Want to tell me what you think?  Please leave a comment below and let me know!

Day 8 Chicago Continued

Pritzker Pavilion

I stayed in Chicago an extra couple of days because of Hurricane Irene.  When I would have been driving back would have put me in the middle of the storm.  Baltimore apparently did not get hit that bad, but the power outages are wide throughout the city.  You can always look at the positive, since this enabled me to explore and do more in Chicago.

First I went to Millennium Park and saw the famous bean, Pritzker Pavilion, and some other cool art pieces.  There is an area with glass structures that have water coming out of them.  Kids play in the water and people seem to really enjoy themselves in that space.  After that I went to the Art Institute.  I saw some very interesting and cool art.  None of which I remember the name of!  After walking around there for a little over an hour I headed to the Chicago Architecture Foundation to do a walking tour.  We went to the Marshall Field building, a hotel, Millennium Park, and few other places.  The tour guide was ok and not quite as good as I had expected.  My relatives here in Chicago said the tours usually are very good.  Supposedly the legend is if you have a Firefighter give you a tour that is the best person to get a walking tour from.  They know building construction in and out.  After the walking tour was over around 3:40 I went back to get lunch at a place called Al's Beef.  It was a very Chicago place with hot dogs and sandwiches.  I got a Buffalo Chicken sandwich that was good but a little gross.  After my late lunch I went back to The Art Institute until it closed around at 5.

I am glad I got to explore Chicago more.  It's a great city.

 

Gas over $4!

Well… it's official.  Most gas stations are above $4 in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.  I passed several which were way above the $4 mark.  One Exxon I saw was $4.17 for regular gas!  The gas station (and repair shop) where I work went up 14 cents today!  From $3.95 to $4.09 per gallon for regular gas payed with a credit card.  You save 4 cents paying with cash, but with these prices it makes you feel the pain no matter how you pay.  It's completely crazy!  I saw 1 station that was still at $3.95 for regular.  With most of the other gas stations above the $4 mark they will most likely be going up tomorrow, or have already gone up as of tonight.  It's ridiculous because there  probably is no real reason for the prices to be going up so quickly and going so high.  I guess I need to start grouping my errands and choose where I'm driving carefully.