HoustonB

The BBC News today mentions another new high for gasoline (petrol) prices.

Increased price leads to a small reduction in demand as people cut back on non-essential journeys or make plans that allow journeys to be consolidated. This combined with mergers in the oil industry that result in the phasing out of the least profitable gas stations can result in a snowball effect; people have to drive ever-increasing distances to get gas, which is increasingly expensive. People in rural areas will likely be the first to experience a major change in lifestyle as the convenience of the motor vehicle ceases to be taken for granted.

Brian Ratliff

Man... That's like, $6.55/gal. Here in the States, we're complaining about $3/gal. No wonder we have so many SUVs on our road.

mac

Uhh... can you translate the old and new prices into US Dollars and gallons so we can understand the article?

Johnny_Monkey

A US gallon is about 3.8 litres. The USD is worth about GBP0.55.

Michigander

This is why I love it when Europeans laugh at high gas prices in the US. Every time it gets more expensive here, you guys get hit at least twice as bad.

Johnny_Monkey

I think the price rises are about on par but the US is starting from a lower level.

I've filled up my car twice since I bought it in November. Living in Europe means being able to use reasonably efficient public transport. I do walk to work though.

Edit: I don't think anyone laughs at the petrol prices in the US rather that you complain when it goes up to what is a still pretty cheap price. They laugh at the ridiculous cars Americans drive. I mean, what's up with the Dodge Ram? And the H2?

ignominious

They're laughing because you whine so loudly. It's like watching the jock cry from being beaten up by a little girl.

Brian Ratliff

Aw, come on... You've obviously got the internet - google it. Anyway:

100p = 1 british pound
1 british pound = $1.82
1L = .264 gal

Converting gets you $6.55/gal. Don't know what the increase was; it didn't say. Looks like the average family will pay $32 more per month in gas over what they were paying in January.

Map tester

https://www.onlineconversion.com/

oilfreeandhappy

Is Tony Blair all preoccupied with lowering petrol prices, similar to GW?

Johnny_Monkey

No, because they only went up today.

Also, they froze the tax on it a few years ago so there's not much the govt can do anyway short of decreasing the tax on it (and they ain't gonna do that in a hurry).

Michigander

We are in agreement about the H2. Its just a glorified Suburban.

derath

Not even. At least a Suburban has a decent amount of interior space.

-D

ItsJustMe

Go to www.google.com. Type in this:
0.96 british pounds per liter in dollars per gallon
Hit the button. You will see this:

0.96 (British pounds per liter) = 6.48995226 U.S. dollars per US gallon

Google's unit conversion is awesome. You will probably see something different since it tracks the monetary conversion daily. Google will convert almost anything that makes sense. It'll even do this if you can believe it:

300000 meters per second in furlongs per fortnight
google sez:
300 000 (meters per second) = 1.80386543 × 10^9 furlongs per fortnight

wagathon

In the US, the most populous states do not even allow their citizens to buy a diesel passenger car. California is as hopeless as it gets as far as being a part of the problem instead of a big part of a solution: no drilling offshore, none of the modern diesels allowed, botique fuels required, diamond lanes that actually restrict highway traffic (mostly born of idiot federal planning and a basic animous by non-Californians that move here against personal transporation of any kind--they keep coming but then they help to steal all of the needed road building and traffic planning money that gas taxes are supposed to be used to pay for).

ItsJustMe

I have a friend who lives in Cambridge and visits us here in the US often. He always rents an SUV, because he does actually go offroading a fair amount.

Anyway, he was joking with a passenger last year while filling up with 3.15/gal gasoline; he said he still couldn't believe how cheap the gas was, and he was going to go out and drive around some more just so he could pump some more of this awesomely inexpensive petrol.

The guy in the F150 on the next pump over apparently was looking daggars at him.