Europe's gas prices top U.S. costs
Taxes and subsidies push some countries' fuel higher than $11
Americans are shell-shocked at $4-a-gallon gas. But compared with Europe, U.S. motorists have nothing to complain about.
In France, gas runs nearly $10. In Turkey, it's more than $11.
Varying national taxes and subsidies are the main reasons for the differences, along with limits in refining capacity and hard-to-reach places that drive up shipping costs.
As a result, plenty of European adults never even learn to drive, preferring cheap mass transit.
But prices have soared. In Germany, a gallon costs $8.33, more than double 2002 levels.
Fishermen in Spain and Portugal began nationwide strikes Friday, keeping their boats docked at ports. The Spanish fishing confederation estimates fuel prices have gone up 320% in five years.
In London, truck drivers clogged streets this week, demanding that Prime Minister Gordon Brown lower energy taxes.
Meanwhile in Indonesia, drivers are protesting shrinking gasoline subsidies. That's in a nation where nearly half the population of 235 million lives on less than $2 a day.
Russia is the world's second-leading producer of oil, but gas there comes to about $3.68 a gallon -- about the same as in the United States, where workers earn about six times as much money.
Much of the Russian cost comes from taxes. Limited refining capacity and the costs of transporting gasoline across the country's vast expanse also push up prices.
In China, government-mandated low retail gas prices have helped farmers and China's urban poor but contribute to the nation's pollution problems. The Chinese used about 5% more gas in the first four months of this year than last.
And there is Venezuela, where government subsidies and bountiful supplies mean gas sells for 12 cents a gallon. Consumers there are snapping up SUVs.
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