It’s probably a lot more expensive to fill the tank in those countries if you account for per capita income.
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I filled my tank at Costco today, and their price has dropped–for the time-being, at least–to $3.59.
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Gas in Maryland will have a stratospheric price rise tomorrow, $0.37/gallon for sure. The tax holiday comes off after one month. I got two tanks during the holiday and still have more than 3/4 tank left. Nice while it lasted.
We haven’t yet had a gas tax holiday in NJ, but the Governor is reportedly considering a rebate for taxpayers in the near future.
Gas prices must always be viewed with the perspective of the taxes levied upon each gallon. Comparing $10 a gallon gas in the UK to the US is not a direct comparison of the price of oil since taxes are a significant portion of the per gallon cost to the user. UK taxes fuel at $3.50 a gallon while the US taxes gas at about $0.40-0.60 a gallon depending on the state. See the chart below… which understates the US taxes since it does not include state taxes!
That is all true, but there are still many Americans who believe–erroneously–that US citizens pay higher taxes on income, gas (and everything else), as compared to citizens of every other nation.
There should be no excuse for that considering the info is at the tip of your fingers on your smartphone!
Very true, but there are people who will automatically reject reality with cries of “fake news”.
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And oil companies are seeing record profits this year.
Updated Report: Oil Giants Post Eye-Popping $237 Billion Record Profits – YubaNet
I’ll repeat the Mythbusters Mantra… I reject your reality and substitute my own! 
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Indeed they are.
Exxon’s newest offshore oil field (off the coast of Guyana) will be producing petroleum shortly, and this will have two effects:
Increased supply–which Exxon can sell to other companies, as they see fit
Still-higher profits for Exxon, which has done better over the past year or so than they have done for many years
I don’t know who believes that. There are citizens who believe that if we adopt similar programs and policies as high tax nations, then we may some day have the same tax rates that they do. And I concur.
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So what? Oil price is high, oil companies receive high profits. Oil price is low, they receive lower profits. Do the oil companies set the market price of a barrel of oil?
And what is your point? Are we not asking for more oil supply right now? Will more supply not decrease the price (eventually)? Are they supposed to invest money in a project to…lose money?
It’s not just oil companies. It seems that most companies selling consumer goods are raising prices, despite record profits. Why? Because they can. Until we stop buying their products or buy far less, they will continue to sell at higher prices. They aren’t in this to make friends, no matter what they tell you.
Of course not. They’re a for profit company. Lots of companies in the steel industry are recording high profits as well. But they don’t set the market price. One company would be foolish (or strangely generous) to sell their product for less than what everyone else is selling their product for.
One of my last assignments in the steel mill before I left was to work on a tiger team with four senior hourly workers. They had great ideas, but after discussing them and deciding they liked them, they automatically assumed they would work. My main contribution to the team was to stop them and work with them to determine how we could test them before presenting them to management. Testing ideas was completely foreign to them. I’m sure they aren’t the only people that think that way.
I don’t see why some are quick to blame oil companies for “price gouging” when supply is lowered but we don’t blame auto manufacturers for the same thing due to lowered supply due to a “chip shortage”, etc.
I had to buy an impact sensor for my truck yesterday. There are two on the front of the truck. I bought one when I first got the truck two years ago and paid $80. The one I bought yesterday was $170. I think the manufacturer should be investigated. 
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Econ 101: product shortages + money floating around = higher prices. Good product supply + money floating around = stable prices. Supply chain issues such as ships unable to unload and people unwilling to work = product shortages. Borrowing money to give away = excess money supply. Then when people get concerned you have stag-flation which we will soon see. Recession plus inflation.
Calling Dr. Carson.
I’ll just add an addendum. Everything we get requires fuel to get it to us. Raise the price of fuel and the product prices will need to reflect the extra transportation costs. In addition to fuel costs, raise the per hour rates of employees and that will also need to be computed into the price of goods on the shelf. If UPS drivers are now being hired at $23 an hour, what doe that do to the cost of the product they deliver. This is not magic and a wand is not needed.
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I agree. I’d say there are probably around 74 million of them.