Gasoline Pump Prices in Japan Vs. America...

[Yollam]

I recently was researching about gas prices in Japan vs. those in America, and I found something interesting. The average price of Regular gas in Japan is at present 130 yen/liter, which works out to roughly double what the price of gas is here in the US at around $2.50/gal.

Sounds like we're getting a good deal right?

But looking back over the average price through the years, I found that the average price of gas at its nadir in 1999 in Japan was about 106 yen/liter. At that time, we were paying around $1.00 per gallon here in the states. In the mid 90s, they were at around 125 yen/liter in Japan and we were at about $1.25/gal.

So with the advent of the Bush administration, we have seen prices at the pump in the use more than DOUBLE, but the rise in prices elsewhere, at least in Japan, has been much more moderate. As a matter of fact, my father in law over there was surprised to hear us complaining about the high prices over here, because he hadn't even NOTICED the increase over there.

Anybody know what gas prices have been like in Europe since POS Bush took office? Just wondering. Seems like the oil companies are trying to bring our prices in line with other advanced nations, but unlike them, our pump prices won't be funding new road projects through higher taxes, etc. - it'll just be that much more pure profit for the greedy oil barons.

[Kipling]

1. Petrol prices in Europe are at about $6 or $7

They have risen quite a bit in the last few years. The reason that Japan's costs have not increased so much is that until recently they suffered from deflation.
I don't know why you Americans complain, really. You get ridiculously cheap fuel. About $6 or so would help persuade you not to slurp up so much oil and not to pump out so much C02.

[Yollam]

2. I would be okay with higher prices...

...if the extra money was going to transit projects, etc. But we are being gouged purely to give the oil companies more profit. Prices in both Europe and Japan have much more taxation built in than here, and the oil company's profit is lower.

If I remember right, the gas tax in the US is a total of only about .50 per gallon. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, please.