Venezuela - Articles - Zimbio

Think Gasoline Is Expensive Where You Live?

Thu, 20 Apr 2007 17:38:00 GMT

posted by Editor

By Brendan Moore

04.20.2007

I was looking through the Reuters news items yesterday and came across an article about the prices of gasoline in different countries and how those compare to the extremely low prices charged for a gallon of gas in the United States.

According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), gas is an average $2.86 per gallon (3.785 liters) for regular unleaded in the United States. Reaction in the U.S. to the recent rises in the retail price of gas which drove the average price to the current $2.86 have been all over the place, from a shrug of the shoulders to hysteria and talk of oil-company conspiracies. Some states (e.g., California) have much higher prices due to a more expensive, more environmentally acceptable formulation of the gasoline required by state law. As an example, where I live in Northern California, the average price of gasoline is around $3.59 per gallon of unleaded.

Of course, the price is the U.S. is a pittance compared to what the EU countries pay on average. The AA Motoring Trust has collected price data across the EU, with the following jumping out at you: The United Kingdom, as usual, has the highest price per gallon; petrol costs a staggering $8.37 a gallon, much higher than the next one down. Pity the poor Brit. The Netherlands is next, with the Dutch paying $7.52 a gallon. Then we get to No. 3 on the list, Norway.

Norway is an interesting case. Norway does not have a lot of people, but it has a lot of oil, courtesy of the country’s rich North Sea oilfields. Norway has so much money from selling oil that the treasury has had to establish special cash reserves just to have someplace to park it, as the government is afraid to spend any more money in public works or public benefits in Norway because they’re concerned that more money in the economy will spike inflation. So, you might ask yourself, “Well, if they’ve got that much money and that much oil, then why is gasoline so expensive in Norway?” The answer is simply that Norway has made a decision to keep the price of gasoline high in order to encourage conservation and reduce pollution from cars as well as traffic congestion. People in Norway are not interested in having more cars or SUVs roaming the cities and the countryside, burning more gasoline. Gasoline could be 20 cents a gallon in Norway, but instead it costs more there than every place on Earth, save two. And the citizens of Norway are, for the most part, pretty happy with the arrangement.

Working my way down the list, I finish with the EU, and get to Japan, which is the developed country closest to the United States in terms of the price of a gallon of gas, with a gallon costing $4.16 in The Land of the Rising Sun. Then, a big drop to the $2.86 it costs in the U.S. Then, every other country with a lower retail price than the U.S. is both a developing country and a country that heavily subsidizes the retail price of gasoline. Some examples include Kazakhstan at $2.75 a gallon, Russia at $2.68, Nigeria at $1.92, Saudi Arabia at $0.45, and Venezuela at $0.19 a gallon.

The summing up is this: Wherever you are in the world, if you’re unhappy about the price of gasoline, it could be worse – you could be in the U.K. If you are in the U.K., then, sorry about that remark. If you’re in the States, you have it pretty easy. Probably not much condolence as you’re struggling to fill up your 3-ton, 12 mpg, 7-passenger Lexus LX 470 on your way to the office this morning, but maybe Venezuela or Nigeria is a possibility in terms of emigration. No? Nah, not for me, either. Guess we’ll have to make do.

COPYRIGHT Autosavant.net – All Rights Reserved

Think Gasoline Is Expensive Where You Live?

Thu, 20 Apr 2007 23:47:21 GMT

Joint manoeuvres with Russia no threat to neighbours: Venezuela

Tue, 12 Nov 2008 12:30:15 GMT

posted by Joycebabu

The head of Venezuela's joint strategic command, General Jesus Gonzalez, has said the upcoming joint naval manoeuvres with Russia in the Caribbean should not worry neighbouring countries.

Russia to Extend $1 Bln Loan to Venezuela for Military-Technical Cooperation

Thu, 26 Sep 2008 06:22:00 GMT

posted by Kobus
Russia will extend Venezuela a $1 billion loan to implement a military-technical cooperation program, under which Moscow and Caracas have already signed contracts worth $4.4 billion in two years, a Kremlin source has said.

"The Russian side has made the decision to provide a $1 billion loan to Venezuela to implement the military-technical cooperation program," the source told Interfax ahead of a meeting between the Russian and Venezuelan presidents in Orenburg on September 26.

"In all, the two countries signed 12 contracts to ship Russian arms to Venezuela worth $4.4 billion in 2005-07," the source said.

Read more

More Protests in Venezuela

Wed, 8 Nov 2007 17:16:00 GMT

posted by u09th2
It's becoming more and more bemusing how Hugo Chavez seems to be letting things deteriorate in Venezuela. His answer to any unrest or protest now, is to crack down on civil liberties, the very same ones that enabled him to come to power and force the 2002 coup against him to eventually crumble. But perhaps he's finding it worrying that it's university students, the one demographic group you would have thought would be firm supporters of his left-wing, socialist policies, who are suddenly the ones out on the street protesting against him. So whilst this week's violence between gunmen and students was obviously nothing to do with Chavez (Gunmen fire on Venezuela protest), the atmosphere in the country seems to be of one where any protest against Chavez is fair game for any wannabe supporter of Chavez to go out and stop them. But I'm sure, with his controversial constitutional reforms in the works, this is something that will be worth commenting on for weeks & months to come. It could all end in a big mess if he doesn't watch out.