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To Europeans, U.S. gasoline prices seem a bargain Taxes, often 60 percent or more, drive prices to $5 a gallon and more; continent also has far fewer cars per population Doug Mellgren Associated Press Writer
If Europeans spotted gasoline for $1.50 a gallon — a price that outrages Americans — motorists would be lined up around the block to cash in on an incredible bargain.
Norwegians pay up to $5 per gallon for lead-free regular, even though their nation is the world’s second-largest oil exporter.
In Britain, also a major oil producer, drivers endure the world’s most expensive gasoline at $5.75 a gallon.
“People are only now beginning to say enough is enough,” said Ray Holloway of Britain’s Petrol Retailers Association.
Europeans aren’t hoping for much relief, even if the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agrees to increase production to help bring down crude oil prices that have tripled in just over a year.
That’s because decades of high prices on the continent are mainly due to taxes — often 60 percent or more.
Smaller cars, less driving People cope by buying smaller, fuel efficient cars, driving less, using public transport, biking to work or — most often — grumbling about the price and driving as usual.
“You can’t say people in Europe don’t get to do what they want to due to prices. You adapt to the price level,” said Terje Tretvik, a traffic researcher at the SINTEF research institute in Trondheim, 300 miles north of Oslo.
Even in Slovakia, where regular unleaded gasoline costs more than $3 a gallon, drivers keep filling up — despite the fact that 15 gallons of gas costs nearly 20 percent of an average $238 monthly wage.
In Rome, Cesare D’Urso watched his hard-earned lire running into his gas tank at the rate of $5.17 per gallon, an increase of 22 percent in one year. “I have to use my car for work, so I have to pay the prices,” he said.
Taxes buffer from high crude prices High taxes actually buffer Europeans from the sting of high crude oil prices because the fuel cost is only a small part of the retail price.
Americans are more sensitive to swings because they pay so much less in taxes, said Knut Ostmoe, director of the independent Institute of Transport Economics in Oslo.
Americans own the most cars Despite a staggering difference in fuel price, Norwegians and Americans spend about the same percent of their income on fuel and transportation, he said.
“That’s because, roughly speaking, Americans have 50 percent more cars, drive 50 percent more and have cars that use 50 percent more fuel,” he said.
He said America’s car fleet, including light trucks, averages 20 miles per gallon, compared with 29 mpg in Norway, a typical rate for Europe. Americans drive 11,800 miles per year, compared with 8,500 miles for Norwegians.
And, based on 1998 figures, Americans own 750 vehicles per 1,000 residents. Even Europe’s most car-happy nation, tiny Luxembourg, only has 631 cars per 1,000 people, while at the other end of the scale Greece has 310.
“The United States is the perfect example of how to develop a car-based culture,” he said, referring to excellent roads, cheap fuel and limited public transport.
U.S. prices and usage provoke envy and scorn from Europeans, with many saying Americans should conserve fuel to protect the environment and save the resource.
Europeans do get fed up. High prices have caused trucker blockades, consumer boycotts and fuel-smuggling. They have even driven normally honest Austrians to fill up and flee. “Twenty thefts of this kind a month are no longer a rarity for us,” said Svetlana Petrovic, a Vienna gas station employee.
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