venezuela Price of Gas is 10 Cents A Gallon, Canadains Pay Over $5 Per Gallon

Saudi Arabia Has 45c per Gallon Gasoline

Every country has its pluses and minuses.

Saudi Arabia is no different in that respect. However, basic freedoms enjoyed in the West such as a freedom of speech, religion, protections against illegal search & seizure, presumption of innocence before the law, are quite different in this oil rich state.

When the question becomes one of gasoline prices, Saudi Arabia is a dream come true. Gasoline prices average roughly 45 cents per gallon which is easily 1/8th the cost of a price of gasoline in the United States. What accounts for the price differential? Location, location, location. Being able to purchase refined gasoline in the source of much of the world’s oil supply makes a big difference.

However, there aren’t many countries where the price of gasoline is a cheap as in Venezuela.

This oil rich country has maintained nearly free gasoline under the rule of President Hugo Chavez and his successor Nicolás Maduro. While it is true that Hugo Chavez became president for life (which blurs the distinction between a president and a dictator), he sought to allow the people of Venezuela to enjoy the oil they produce abundantly.

So Chavez began subsidizing the cost of gasoline to the point where the price is absurdly low. Can you image filling up your vehicle with 22 gallons of unleaded gasoline for 88 cents? Such prices would be an immediate savings for every family in the United States.

The same holds true in Venezuela. It was relatively easy for Venezuela to subsidize oil when the country used only the oil produced domestically. Now, economic growth has the country importing oil to the tune of 25% of the nation’s supply. Oil is purchased at $100 a barrel and sold for domestic use at $5 a barrel.

The same holds true in parts of the United States. Gasoline is cheaper in Georgia because its port city of Savannah is where much of the refined gasoline that is imported in to this country arrives. Gasoline is cheaper in Louisiana because it is an oil rich state with offshore drilling and local refineries.

Here in Canada, gas is over $5 per gallon.

Treehugger thinks gas prices in Canada should be much lower:

One would think that with a government so in the tank with Alberta and the oil industry, with so much stuff pouring out of the oil sands with no place to go, that our oil prices would be low or stable, wouldn’t you? Instead, they just hit C$1.40 a litre, close to C$ 1.50 for hi test. The cheap place near where we live, at C$1.367/litre, translates to US$5.23/gallon. How can this be?

The closer one is to the source the better deals can be found. Water is a premium though in Saudi Arabia. One gallon of water there costs $1.50 because of the scarcity of that essential substance in a largely desert state.

On The Web:

Venezuela Price Of Gas 10 Cents A Gallon: Cheapest Gas Price In The World?
http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/33538/20130705/venezuela-price-gas-10-cents-gallon.htm

venezuela price of gas is 10 cents a gallon is the cheapest in the world
http://www.dbtechno.com/curiosity/2013/07/05/venezuela-price-of-gas-is-10-cents-a-gallon-is-the-cheapest-in-the-world/

Gas Prices In Canada Hitting Record Highs, US$ 5.68 per Gallon, And They Can’t Blame Obama
http://www.treehugger.com/environmental-policy/gas-prices-canada-hitting-record-highs-us-568-gallon-and-they-cant-blame-obama.html