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RE: [ST] FYI Gas prices



Nor producing more oil, nor building nuclear plants
would solve the problem. Norway is the biggest oil
producer in Western Europe and gas is expensive over
there. France covers more than 80% of its energy needs
from nuclear energy and gas is not cheap.
Here is a comparison of the average price of gas
(premium) at the pump in various countries as of late
March (in dollars)

Belgium  France Germany Italy  Netherlands  U.K.  U.S 
5.68     5.52    5.70    5.91    6.40      5.94   2.29

In Europe, taxes make gas expensive (from 65% in the
UK to 80% in France) but you could consider, if you
want to look at the bright side of life, that the
"retribution" is road networks far better and
extensive than in the U.S and cars way more fuel
efficient. On the darker side, it's just Big
Governement at its worst. 

In the U.S, taxes are less of a problem but they still
represent on average about 42pc of the price of a
gallon (with a maximum of 54pc in Hawaï, 50pc in
California and a minimum of 26pc in Alaska and 30 pc
in Georgia). There is right now a real refinery
problem. Not so much because of the Sierra Club but
simply because prices have been too low for a decade
to justify new investments (pure capitalistic
economics at play here).
That said, the Bush administration policy is to let
gas prices rise as an incentive to develop alternate
sources of energy and especially for road
transportation (I won't get into the debate about
doing so to allow gas companies to make fat benefits
but that would be real political shortsightedness on
their part). 

 "Of critical importance will be the extent to which
the more than 200 million light vehicles on US
highways, which consume 11 percent of total world oil
production, become more fuel efficient as vehicle
buyers choose the lower fuel costs of lighter or
hybrid vehicles". Alan Greenspan yesterday. 

I am not an economist, just a hack and energy policy
has been my beat for quite a while.

As for ST contend, I now have to put the OEM pipe back
on real fast to get back to the 45 mpg of yore
(commuting) and save money for new tires. A sensible
economic choice would also be to trade the Triumph for
a F650 BMW but I would never do that (I actually did
the opposite three years ago...)



Jean Doublet
Sprint ST 99
Guzzi CX100 Le Mans II 1980


		
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