Are DUers in Europe seeing a big climb in fuel prices at this time ??

[Ouabache]

I am just wondering if the pinch is on the consumers there too.
Could any European DUers please fill us in?
Whats happening with gas prices there?

[BrotherBuzz]

1. Kicking because I'm curious, too

Anyone in Europe awake yet?

[KitchenWitch]

2. I can't answer that question

but I hate to see what our heating bills are going to be like this winter.

[Tyranny_R_US]

3. I'm going to keep this kicked until we can get someone on

I'm very interested as well

[jsamuel]

4. yeah, how are you guys doing over there?

not in dollars, but in percentage rise in the last few years?

[Journeyman]

5. Very excellent question . . .

especially in light of the "reasons" we've been given lately.

Here's a KICK to keep it up until we can get an answer.

[reorg]

6. record prices in Germany

Currently it's 1.31 Euro per liter for Super.

Good table with European petrol prices for June of this year:

http://www.angelfire.com/ri/EuroDelivery/gas.html


When I last had a car some five years ago, I believe I paid around 1.40 deutschmarks for one litre, that's about 60 percent of this year's prices.

Prices for heating have risen in similar fashion. Although we do not use oil any more, it's gas from Russia now, I had to pay in 2004 almost double of what I had to pay the year before ...



Another table (in German, but current prices):

http://www.reise-report.de/benzinpreise.html

[jsamuel]

7. well we have gone up 120% to 2.50 here from 1.10. So we went up double?

[reorg]

8. to be more precise

we already had a price hike of 25 percent in 2000, due to a new "eco tax", rising dollar, and other factors (e. g. an opportunistic price hike by the petrol retailers, which may also be the case in the US right now).

see table (prices in deutschmarks):

http://www.learn-line.nrw.de/angebote/agenda21/archiv/00/daten/benzhist.htm


Most of what we pay is taxes: in 2001, out of 1.959 DM, 1.348 DM went to the state budget. This is why hikes in crude oil prices do not have the same effect on us as on consumers in the US.

[julianer]

9. Yes.

In UK prices are about 90p per litre (about $5 per gallon??) - up from the low 80's a few months ago.

There are a couple of things that are different though. Fuel is heavily taxed so when oil prices rise there is pressure to reduce or defer planned tax rises.

The other thing is that sterling is strong in relation to the dollar and, since oil is traded in dollars, the inflation that one would expect from a doubling of oil prices is offset by the fall in the relative value of the dollar.

[WearyOne]

10. going up every week in Australia

[rman]

11. prices in Europe are rising

but not as much as in the US because most of gas price is taxes.

[jsamuel]

12. are taxes percent based there?

if they are, then they should go up the same amount...

unless they take off taxes as the price goes up...

[reorg]

13. the smaller part is

speaking for Germany: only the sales tax is percentage based (16 percent). But there are fixed rates for all different kinds of fuel set per liter (petrol 65 Euro cent per liter at 15 centigrade :-), in 2003).

[rman]

19. essentially the same in the Netherlands. nt

[Martti]

14. Here in Finland

the prices have gone up about 25% from the last year. ~1,30€ a litre = 3,8 x 1,30€ = 4,94€/gallon = $6,12 per gallon.

Here the taxation on fuels is about 75%.

Martti

[wake.up.america]

15. Kiitos! Päivää

[Martti]

18. Olkaa hyvä :) eom

[antigone382]

21. Welcome to DU, Martti!

It's wonderful to see so many people here from all over the world. :hi:

[mogster]

16. Gas prices raising steadily

But then this have been the trend for 10 years now ;-)

Currently, it has just rounded 11 NOK per liter, which makes about 1,7 USD per liter.

[Benbow]

17. A little information here,

Dated last Tuesday 9 August 2005
UK petrol prices hit new record
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4133430.stm

Are you worried about rising oil prices? (Comments section)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/3583864.stm

See also side-links, eg to a discussion entitled "Ask an oil expert".


Dated today, 15 August 2005, on the Guardian web site

How high can the oil price go?
And when will it start to hit us where it hurts?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1549074,00.html

includes this comparison of the effects on the UK and US economies. As you see, in the UK 0.75 per cent of the pump price is TAX!

(In Britain) consumers are aided by the fact that tax makes up three-quarters of the price of a litre of fuel, meaning the doubling of oil prices has not seen a doubling of prices at the pump. Although pump prices have set records above 90p a litre, prices are in fact up about 30%, rather than the 115% crude has risen.

In the US, though, tax is far lower, and last week the average pump prices there rose to nearly $2.40 a US gallon, equivalent to 35p a litre here. Although it's tempting to say, "the US motorist does not know he is born", from an economic point of view it matters that prices have doubled in the US because motorists there drive more than we do. So how come American consumers are still spending like mad?

Stuart Thomson of stock broker Charles Stanley reckons Americans have run down their savings to carry on spending in spite of higher petrol prices. They borrowed $55bn against the inflated values of their homes in the second quarter to keep on spending - encouraged, too, by what Thomson calls the "suicidal" recent price cuts by General Motors.

<snip>

... if oil goes to $80 or more and stays there we could be in real trouble, and the stock market may turn out to have been hopelessly optimistic.

[SidDithers]

20. We're up to $1 per litre now in Toronto...

for regular unleaded. Premium at $1.12. Gas has never been $1 per litre here before.

$1.029 /litre $CDN ~ $3.11 / USG $US

Sid