The price of petrol.

[JBark]

Looks like the cheapest gas available in all of Norway is $5.51 per US gallon. And I believe that's $1.10 for the gas and $4.41 in taxes.

Is there a breakdown of what the insane taxes you guys pay goes towards? Are the gax tax revenues used for everything (healthcare, welfare, etc...), or just stuff related to transportation? I'm guessing the money goes towards everything, but I'm curious.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I feel like I am getting it wrong but our petrol is 1.399 a litre for 91
Current exchange rate is $1NZ is 68US cents.

So around $3.59US a gallon here.

 

[Diplo]

Even in the U.S. the government makes more "profit" from gas than the oil companies do.

Which doesn't seem to stop oil companies like Shell making £1.5 million ($ 2.6 million) an hour in pure profit...

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Which doesn't seem to stop oil companies like Shell making £1.5 million ($ 2.6 million) an hour in pure profit...

These are massive, massive companies, so if their profit is only a percent of a percent, the absolute numbers are still huge and make great headlines for the tabloids. Their turnover is a very big number. The things they own (like oilrigs) cost hundreds of millions, if not billions to build and run.

The oil companies make a couple of pennies profit on a litre of petrol, tops, where the government takes 30 times that in tax. Producing and retailing petrol is just about the least profitable thing oil companies do, and why you've seen so many petrol stations close down in the UK over the last 5-10 years. I don't think it's the oil companies that are the problem when looking at the price of petrol in the UK, because although they sell a lot of petrol, their profit margins are absolutly tiny when compared to most other industry and products.

Of course the ultimate problem is that we as a society have allowed ourselves to still be reliant on oil, instead of working strongly towards alternative energy production. This suits the big status quo for both the oil companies and the UK government coffers.

 

[InkSpot]

Is there a breakdown of what the insane taxes you guys pay goes towards? Are the gax tax revenues used for everything (healthcare, welfare, etc...), or just stuff related to transportation? I'm guessing the money goes towards everything, but I'm curious.

Yes it goes towards everything as the taxes are part of the federal budget and every year there is a new budget law which distributes those taxes ti various areas, that being childcare,healthcare, pension etc, all of which the states provide to you.

 

[Farid]

althought i agree we in the uk are ripped off over fuel (along with everything else )

i must point out that a u.s gallon is only 3.78 litres vs 4.546 in the u.k.

also the price quoted in this thread for the average u.s gallon is for regular u/l
which is i think 91 ron or lower?

in the u.k regular is 95 ron.

we are still ripped off thou

Don't say no to logic!

Oh, and to say something on topic, it's at times like theses that I like moving around in my "Public Transportation-mobile"!

 

[mcsven]

The especially ironic thing about high petrol prices in the UK is that until very recently (i.e. this year) we were an oil exporter.

 

[Sxotty]

The especially ironic thing about high petrol prices in the UK is that until very recently (i.e. this year) we were an oil exporter.

And high petrol prices are why you were an exporter .

 

[mcsven]

And high petrol prices are why you were an exporter.

Yes, you could be right. But what it means is that we're heavily taxed (if the total cost is 70% tax then the actual tax rate is more like 400%!) to buy petrol that was ours in the first place!