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Retail fuel prices

Understanding the price gap between gasoline and diesel fuel
According to our data set of 161 countries, gasoline is more expensive than diesel fuel in 84% of all countries. On average, diesel is 9,84% cheaper but the difference varies considerably across countries as well as within countries over time. Here we discuss several factors...
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The six-month change in fuel prices in 96 countries
(Feb. 16, 2016) In recent months, drivers in various countries have complained that retail fuel prices have not fallen enough given the dramatic decline in crude oil prices. To investigate this issue, we calculated the six-month change (from June 2015 to January 2016) of...
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Venezuela: gas prices jump 60 times in one day
(February 23, 2016) Venezuela, the country with the largest proven crude oil reserves, significantly increased its gasoline prices last week. The price adjustment, which is the first in 20 years, was part of the government measures to overcome the local economic crisis....
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Understanding diesel prices in the Netherlands
The presentation below is a summary of our report on retail diesel prices in the Netherlands using weekly data from 2005 to 2015. Please contact us if you need the full report or similar analysis for...
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Fuel prices in Argentina: the dominance of currency values
(December 05, 2016) The chart shows the level of gasoline and diesel prices in Argentina from March 2014 to November 2016 as well as crude oil prices (Brent) and the USD/Argentine peso exchange rate. Clearly, the dominant factor for fuel prices is the exchange rate....
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Petrol prices in Russia: historical chart
(January 12, 2017) Over ten years of gasoline price data from Russia show a steady upward trend, largely unaffected by crude oil prices or the dollar-ruble exchange rate. The only period with faster growth in fuel prices was experienced in 2008 when crude oil prices spiked...
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Chart: In Russia, cheap oil translates into higher gasoline prices
(published March 30, 2015) In the 9 months since June 2014 crude oil lost about 50% of its market value. This is the result of high output from shale oil producers in North America, the inability of OPEC, the world’s cartel of major oil producing nations, to agree on...
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Chart: In Brazil, drivers pay for the budget deficit
(published April 13, 2015) Brazil currently suffers from inflation levels not seen in almost 10 years, international media reported...
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Chart: US gasoline prices linked tightly to crude oil
Drivers in the US enjoy one of the lowest gasoline prices among the industrialized countries. This is so because the level of taxation is relatively low compared to, for example, most European countries. There are, however, significant differences between regions, again due to...
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Chart: Ukraine’s currency causes pain at the pump
In the last year and a half, the Ukraine was hit hard by a de facto war, territorial losses, and a deepening economic crisis. As a result, its national currency – the Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH) – suffers heavy losses against major international currencies. For instance, the...
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Chart: Indians pay more for gas than Pakistanis
(published April 16, 2015) As crude oil prices fell nearly 50% from their June 2014 highs, retail prices of gasoline in India and Pakistan, two former British colonies known for their long-time rivalry, followed suit. Drivers in Pakistan enjoy rates at the pump which are on...
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Chart: Gasoline prices in the Balkan countries
(published April 28, 2015) The Balkan Peninsula represents a colorful puzzle of countries with many common historical traits and very different present political and economic conditions. From wealthy Slovenia, a former Yugoslav republic and now an EU, OECD and NATO member,...
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Chart: Top 10 countries with highest gasoline prices, January-June 2015
(Published July 23, 2015) According to our data, the average global retail price of unleaded gasoline 95 is USD 1.05 per liter in the first six months of 2015 (for comparison, it is USD 0.98 per liter for diesel). These figures mask significant variations across countries...
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Chart: Top 10 countries with lowest gasoline prices, January-June 2015
(Published July 23, 2015) The average global retail price of unleaded gasoline 95 is USD 1.05 per liter in the first six months of 2015, according to data from GlobalPetrolPrices.com. For comparison, the figure for diesel is USD 0.98 per liter. These figures mask...
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Regional differences in Australian petrol prices
(January 27, 2016) The retail fuel market in Australia is liberalized and the changes of the domestic fuel prices follow the changes in the crude oil price on international markets. However, tracking only the national average fuel prices could be misleading. A detailed...
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The price of gasoline in North Korea
(Published August 14, 2015) There are a few places on Earth more economically and socially isolated than North Korea. Barring a number of distant island nations with not many inhabitants, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, as it is formally known, is perhaps the...
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Crude oil prices

Crude oil prices and global gasoline prices
The retail gasoline price is formed by four basic elements: the crude oil price, refining costs, distribution costs, and taxes. The share of each element in the retail price varies across countries. The production and distribution costs and, especially, the taxes are...
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How changes in oil prices affect the retail prices of gasoline.
To answer that question, we use 1053 weekly observations of US retail gasoline prices from 1994 to 2014, obtained from the US Energy Information Agency. The retail price data are matched with weekly price data for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent. We calculated the...
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Chart: Oil wealth can be a curse
A number of resource-rich countries developed a common problem. They became so dependent on the income they receive from resource extraction and trade that their economies emerge and submerge with international prices of the resource in question. Moreover, abundance of...
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What is a crude oil benchmark?
Petroleum derivatives cover around 34% of the energy consumed in the world, according to calculations by the US Energy Information Administration. This simple fact explains why the oil...
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Chart: Historical prices of crude oil (1861 - 2014)
(Published June 22, 2015) In its early days, the oil industry did not have the same economic and political significance as today. In other words, crude oil prices were far less important to the economy. Nevertheless, one of the best ways to trace the history of the oil...
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What is driving crude oil prices
(Published June 24, 2015) The price of crude oil reflects the delicate equilibrium between supply and demand factors that are at constant interplay on world markets. In classic economic terms, supply side actors (oil-extracting countries and companies) are willing to pump...
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Why different oil markers are priced differently
(Published October 22, 2015) Crude oil prices reflect the interplay of various market and non-market forces – supply, demand, political events, physical qualities, etc. The chart below tracks the spot prices of Brent oil and West Texas Intermediate (WTI), two of the...
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Fuel market taxes and regulations

Gasoline and diesel prices in Brazil over the years
(December 6, 2016) In Brazil, the national average retail prices of gasoline and diesel fuel have been increasing since 2014 despite the international crude oil price slump. The downward trend in oil prices that began in mid-2014 led to a decline in the cost of a barrel...
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Gasoline price subsidies
(September 13, 2016) The gasoline prices in quite a few countries around the world are substantially below market levels. What are these countries and by how much do they subsidize retail gasoline? To make that calculation, we started by estimating what would gasoline cost...
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Fuel prices in South Africa: mixing markets and regulations
(November 29, 2016) Retail fuel prices in South Africa have remained steady at about 11-12 ZAR per liter for several years despite the large drop in oil prices since 2014. One of the reasons is that the South African currency, the rand, has depreciated during that time....
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Fuel prices in Mexico: gradual liberalization
(December 1, 2016) For many years fuel prices in Mexico were directly set by the government. The objective was to have price stability and predictability. As the chart shows, despite fluctuations in crude oil prices, from 2010 to 2014 gasoline and diesel prices in Mexico...
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How China sets fuel prices
(January 21, 2016) The retail fuel market in China is not fully liberalized. The petroleum products prices are controlled by a local regulator, The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The NDRC adjusts fuel prices based on the development of crude oil prices...
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Fuel market regulations around the world
The extent of state intervention in the energy markets differs considerably across countries. There are various forms of fuel market organization and methods of fuel pricing. Although each country has specific fuel market characteristics, three main methods for retail fuel...
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Chart: Breakdown of gasoline prices
(published April 6, 2015) Although most countries have access to international crude oil markets (with prices set against recognized benchmarks), what end-consumers pay for petroleum products varies substantially across countries and regions. One factor are the refining...
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Chart: Excise duties in EU countries
(Published: May 13, 2015) Governments impose taxes on fuels for various reasons: to raise budget revenue, to discourage excessive use, to combat environmental degradation, etc. Taxation is particularly strong in Europe where passenger vehicle ownership is also very high....
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Chart: Gasoline taxes in the US
(Published May 26, 2015) Taxation of transport fuels in the United States reflects the multiple levels of governance in this country. On the one hand, there is the uniform federal tax burden (mainly from the excise duty) imposed across all states and on all retail sales. In...
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Chart: EU excise duties on diesel
(Published May 27, 2015) In Europe, taxes on motor fuels are higher compared to other countries of the developed world, most notably the United States. This is one of the reasons why Americans, on average, pay less at the pump compared to Europeans. As discussed in our...
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Gulf countries cut fuel subsidies
(January 22, 2016) Not all countries around the world reduced their fuel prices as crude oil prices declined. The cheap oil had a negative effect on the government budgets of many countries, including the Gulf countries that hold 30 percent of the global oil reserves and...
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Fuel supply and demand

Gasoline consumption per capita around the world
(August 4, 2016) The chart shows the consumption of motor gasoline per capita across countries. The data on gasoline consumption were obtained from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the population data were collected from the United Nations. The clear leader...
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Countries with highest supply and demand for gasoline
(Published on August 24, 2015) A handful of countries account for most of the global supply and demand for motor gasoline. Our analysis of data provided by the US Energy Information Administration shows that of the 22.5 million barrels per day (bpd) produced globally in...
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Breakdown of oil consumption by sector
(Published October 7, 2015) It is widely known that crude oil has many applications – in industrial, energy, and chemical products, in agriculture, for shipping and for personal and business travels, to name a few. Some sectors, however, demonstrate unquenchable thirst...
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Regional comparisons

Buying gasoline on minimum wage
(August 23, 2016) The chart shows how many liters of gasoline a minimum monthly wage can buy in 102 countries around the world. To compute the numbers, we use minimum wage data from the International Labor Organization and our fuel price data set. The rankings are topped...
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Variation of gasoline prices within countries
Every week we at GlobalPetrolPrices.com publish average prices of gasoline, diesel and LPG in over 100 countries. Where governments set uniform retail prices for the entire country, these are the rates paid at the pump and the rates we display. In contrast, where fuel markets...
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Global Gasoline Affordability Ranking
(Published September 14, 2015) Crude oil prices are plunging but can drivers around the world really feel any relief? The short answer – it depends. As a result of different policies and market access, prices at the pump vary significantly across countries. On top of...
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Cars & Driving

Best places to be a driver
(published March 9, 2015) Have you ever wondered what it would be to drive endlessly without worrying about your pocket? There are several countries where people enjoy relatively cheap fuel (and thus high consumption), extensive vehicle fleet and high safety on the road....
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New leaders in the global car market
(September 20, 2016) According to the latest data from the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, China is the biggest car market in the world with 21.14 million new cars sold in 2015 which represents 32.21% of the global car market. The second and third...
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Oil prices and the fuel efficiency of new cars
(October 11, 2016) In the 1990's, the average fuel consumption of new cars sold in the U.S. stayed stable at about 8–8.5 liters per 100 km. During that period the price of Brent oil was relatively low and stable. Then, around year 2000 it started a long upward trend....
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Fuel price outlook

Oil price outlook
(October 15, 2018) The chart shows the prices of crude oil (Brent and WTI) at which buyers and sellers on the New York Mercantile Exchange have agreed to buy/sell oil at some point in the future. These are the so-called futures contracts and reflect the expectations of...
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Gasoline and diesel price forecast - outlook for Europe and the world
(October 15, 2018) Crude oil prices are the main driver of retail fuel prices in the long-run (months and years). In the short run, exchange rates, tax policy, regulations, supply disruptions, and seasonal factors also play a role but these influences are minor compared to...
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Crude oil market

Oil consumption by country
(November 8, 2016) According to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration from 2013, the United States is the world's biggest oil consumer with about 19 million barrels of oil consumed each day. This is 21 percent of the total world consumption of oil...
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Other

Biggest polluters in the world by CO2 emissions per capita
(September 6, 2016) The growing world energy consumption raises serious environmental concerns. The use of fossil fuels increases the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere contributing to global warming and climate change. Carbon dioxide (CO2) has the largest...
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