It was exactly a month ago when this blog site asked:
IS THIS THE BEGINNING OF PEAK OIL?
My answer was sort of wishy washy, although the Peak Oil Center graphically shows that Peak Oil occurred in 2008:
So, are gasoline prices too high? Well, not really, on a relative basis. The morning paper indicates that Hawaii is #1 at $4.52/gallon, while California is at $4.34/gallon. The column to the right (How Much Does Gasoline Cost?--you'll need to follow directions and extrapolate) indicates that the U.S. average is about $4/gallon, so the 50th State is 13% higher. Considering our location and economy of scale, this is not bad at all for two reasons:
1. Our electricity rates are 300% higher than the Nation. Hawaii pays 33 cents/kWh, while the USA is at $11 cents/kWh.
2. The gasoline cost in the United Kingdom is $7.70/gallon. Here is a world comparison using the United States at 1.0 (that is, multiply each ratio by $4/gallon to arrive at the actual price):
| Rank | Countries  | Amount  | |
|---|---|---|---|
| # 1 |  Uruguay: | 1.95 | |
| # 2 |  United Kingdom: | 1.92 | |
| # 3 |  Israel: | 1.87 | |
| # 4 |  Argentina: | 1.75 | |
| = 5 |  Finland: | 1.74 | |
| = 5 |  Japan: | 1.74 | |
| # 7 |  Iceland: | 1.72 | |
| # 8 |  Netherlands: | 1.69 | |
| = 9 |  Burundi: | 1.66 | |
| = 9 |  Denmark: | 1.66 | |
| # 11 |  Zambia: | 1.64 | |
| = 12 |  France: | 1.62 | |
| = 12 |  Central African Republic: | 1.62 | |
| # 14 |  Italy: | 1.59 | |
| # 15 |  Belgium: | 1.57 | |
| # 16 |  Sweden: | 1.54 | |
| = 17 |  Korea, South: | 1.51 | |
| = 17 |  Brazil: | 1.51 | |
| # 19 |  Germany: | 1.49 | |
| = 20 |  Rwanda: | 1.46 | |
| = 20 |  Korea, North: | 1.46 | |
| # 22 |  Turkey: | 1.44 | |
| # 23 |  Uganda: | 1.41 | |
| = 24 |  Zimbabwe: | 1.39 | |
| = 24 |  Guinea: | 1.39 | |
| = 26 |  Sierra Leone: | 1.34 | |
| = 26 |  Morocco: | 1.34 | |
| = 26 |  Austria: | 1.34 | |
| # 29 |  Hungary: | 1.33 | |
| = 30 |  Peru: | 1.31 | |
| = 30 |  Bolivia: | 1.31 | |
| # 32 |  Switzerland: | 1.28 | |
| = 33 |  Portugal: | 1.26 | |
| = 33 |  Czech Republic: | 1.26 | |
| = 35 |  Madagascar: | 1.25 | |
| = 35 |  Poland: | 1.25 | |
| = 35 |  Croatia: | 1.25 | |
| = 35 |  Cote d'Ivoire: | 1.25 | |
| = 35 |  Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of: | 1.25 | |
| # 40 |  Tanzania: | 1.23 | |
| # 41 |  Norway: | 1.21 | |
| = 42 |  Spain: | 1.2 | |
| = 42 |  Senegal: | 1.2 | |
| = 44 |  Ireland: | 1.18 | |
| = 44 |  Paraguay: | 1.18 | |
| = 44 |  Greece: | 1.18 | |
| = 47 |  Dominica: | 1.16 | |
| = 47 |  Kenya: | 1.16 | |
| = 49 |  Mali: | 1.15 | |
| = 49 |  Bulgaria: | 1.15 | |
| = 51 |  Malawi: | 1.13 | |
| = 51 |  Slovakia: | 1.13 | |
| = 53 |  Niger: | 1.11 | |
| = 53 |  Chad: | 1.11 | |
| = 53 |  Burkina Faso: | 1.11 | |
| = 53 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina: | 1.11 | |
| = 57 |  El Salvador: | 1.1 | |
| = 57 |  Mauritania: | 1.1 | |
| = 57 |  Latvia: | 1.1 | |
| = 60 |  Lithuania: | 1.08 | |
| = 60 |  Sri Lanka: | 1.08 | |
| # 62 |  Costa Rica: | 1.07 | |
| # 63 |  Burma: | 1.06 | |
| = 64 |  Haiti: | 1.05 | |
| = 64 |  Chile: | 1.05 | |
| = 64 |  Gambia, The: | 1.05 | |
| = 64 |  Guinea-Bissau: | 1.05 | |
| = 68 |  Slovenia: | 1.03 | |
| = 68 |  Nepal: | 1.03 | |
| = 70 |  Nicaragua: | 1.02 | |
| = 70 |  Honduras: | 1.02 | |
| = 70 |  Jamaica: | 1.02 | |
| = 73 |  Mexico: | 1 | |
| = 73 |  Cuba: | 1 | |
| = 73 |  Cambodia: | 1 | |
| # 76 |  Somalia: | 0.99 | |
| = 77 |  India: | 0.98 | |
| = 77 |  Estonia: | 0.98 | |
| = 79 |  Bhutan: | 0.95 | |
| = 79 |  Canada: | 0.95 | |
| = 81 |  Albania: | 0.93 | |
| = 81 |  Australia: | 0.93 | |
| = 83 |  Liberia: | 0.92 | |
| = 83 |  Azerbaijan: | 0.92 | |
| = 83 |  Cameroon: | 0.92 | |
| = 83 |  Mozambique: | 0.92 | |
| # 87 |  Armenia: | 0.9 | |
| = 88 |  Papua New Guinea: | 0.87 | |
| = 88 |  Guatemala: | 0.87 | |
| = 88 |  Panama: | 0.87 | |
| = 88 |  Lebanon: | 0.87 | |
| = 88 |  Congo, Democratic Republic of the: | 0.87 | |
| = 88 |  Gabon: | 0.87 | |
| = 88 |  Pakistan: | 0.87 | |
| # 95 |  South Africa: | 0.82 | |
| = 96 |  Colombia: | 0.8 | |
| = 96 |  Tunisia: | 0.8 | |
| = 98 |  Benin: | 0.79 | |
| = 98 |  New Zealand: | 0.79 | |
| = 98 |  Togo: | 0.79 | |
| = 101 |  Namibia: | 0.77 | |
| = 101 |  United States: | 0.77 | |
| = 103 |  Romania: | 0.75 | |
| = 103 |  Ethiopia: | 0.75 | |
| = 103 |  Bangladesh: | 0.75 | |
| = 106 |  Moldova: | 0.74 | |
| = 106 |  Tajikistan: | 0.74 | |
| = 106 |  Jordan: | 0.74 | |
| = 109 |  Kyrgyzstan: | 0.72 | |
| = 109 |  Syria: | 0.72 | |
| # 111 |  Uzbekistan: | 0.7 | |
| # 112 |  Botswana: | 0.69 | |
| # 113 |  Belarus: | 0.68 | |
| # 114 |  Laos: | 0.67 | |
| # 115 |  China: | 0.66 | |
| = 116 |  Thailand: | 0.64 | |
| = 116 |  Trinidad and Tobago: | 0.64 | |
| = 118 |  Mongolia: | 0.62 | |
| = 118 |  Vietnam: | 0.62 | |
| = 120 |  Philippines: | 0.61 | |
| = 120 |  Ukraine: | 0.61 | |
| # 122 |  Kazakhstan: | 0.59 | |
| # 123 |  Russia: | 0.54 | |
| = 124 |  Oman: | 0.51 | |
| = 124 |  Ecuador: | 0.51 | |
| # 126 |  Angola: | 0.49 | |
| = 127 |  Sudan: | 0.46 | |
| = 127 |  Malaysia: | 0.46 | |
| = 129 |  Algeria: | 0.44 | |
| = 129 |  Nigeria: | 0.44 | |
| # 131 |  Egypt: | 0.43 | |
| = 132 |  Libya: | 0.41 | |
| = 132 |  United Arab Emirates: | 0.41 | |
| # 134 |  Saudi Arabia: | 0.39 | |
| # 135 |  Kuwait: | 0.34 | |
| # 136 |  Ghana: | 0.33 | |
| # 137 |  Indonesia: | 0.28 | |
| # 138 |  Venezuela: | 0.2 | |
| # 139 |  Iran: | 0.08 | |
| # 140 |  Iraq: | 0.05 | |
| # 141 |  Turkmenistan: | 0.03 | |
| Weighted average: | 1.0 |
I'd never be elected President, but I've long advocated Congress lopping on an extra $1/gallon on any oil product, call it an investment credit (more commonly known as a tax), and apply this extra $142 billion/year towards sustainable resource development and energy conservation. If we had done this after the second energy crisis nearly a third of a century ago, we could well today be energy independent.
By the way, Hawaii would rank at #50 with Malawi and Slovakia. If you want really low gasoline prices, go to Turkmenistan, Iraq and Iran. Click on the country and you will learn everything you need to know about energy for that location.
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