Gas prices from Norway to Venezuela
Jeremy Hobson: Well here in this country, there are going to be a lot of people on the highways today heading home from Labor Day weekend festivities. And they’ll be spending a little more on gas than they did a year ago — about $3.82 per gallon on average compared with about $3.65 last year.
But as Marketplace’s Jeff Tyler reports, it’s all relative.
Jeff Tyler: Jonathan Nyquist tracks gas prices for Air Inc, a consulting company that analyzes the cost of living in different countries.
Jonathan Nyquist: The cheapest place to buy gas, by far, is Venezuela. It’s about six cents a gallon.
Venezuela subsidizes gas prices. Europe, on the other hand, imposes high taxes. A gallon runs around eight dollars there. Mark Perry is with the American Enterprise Institute.
Mark Perry: In the United States, the average tax that we pay — that includes federal and state taxes — is around 40 cents a gallon. And in almost all European countries, it’s about ten times that amount.
In terms of the priciest gasoline, Jonathan Nyquist says:
Nyquiest: The most expensive gas we noticed this past July was in Norway.
Norwegians pay around $10 per gallon. Unlike other oil producing countries, Norway doesn’t subsidize the price of gas. On the other hand, it does use oil revenue to pay for things like free college education.
I’m Jeff Tyler for Marketplace.
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