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KUWAIT CITY, Sept 11: Kuwait has been ranked fourth globally and third regionally in terms of low petrol prices, as per the Global Petrol Price Index of September 2015, reports Al-Nahar daily. According to the Global Petrol Price report, the index's ranking during the period between June 1 and Sept 7, 2015 indicated that the price of petrol in Kuwait is equivalent to $0.21 per liter, whereas the average price of petrol globally is about $1.06 per liter.
This year, Libya has overtaken the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which was ranked first in the region and second in the world for the cheapest petrol price last year. Libya tops the list this year with a petrol price of $0.14 per liter, followed by Saudi Arabia with $0.16, Algeria in third place and Kuwait in fourth with $0.21 per liter. State of Qatar came fifth regionally with a petrol price of $0.26 per liter, followed by Kingdom of Bahrain with $0.27 per liter, Sultanate of Oman in eighth position with $0.30 per liter, Syria in ninth with $0.45, and then the United Arab Emirates where petrol costs $0.53 per liter.
Other Arab countries in the list are Egypt at the 14th position with $0.78 per liter, whereas petrol costs $0.75 per liter in Yemen, Sudan and Lebanon. In Tunisia, the current petrol price is $0.80 per liter while in Iraq, it is $0.85 and in Jordan $1.
In Arab countries such as Morocco, Mauritania, Comoros Island and Somalia, the petrol price exceeds the one dollar mark such that it is $1.71 per liter in Djibouti, which is the highest petrol price in the region. Internationally, Iran has been placed 10th with a petrol price of $0.33 per liter, Russia at 17th place with $0.55 and the U.S.A. at 23rd place with $0.71. Turkey, Belgium, Sweden, UK, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, Holland and Greece are among the countries with the highest petrol prices in the world.
However, Hong Kong tops the international list as it charges about $1.90 per liter for petrol, while the last in the list is Venezuela where petrol costs $0.02 per liter. The report stated, "It has been observed that the rich countries have high petrol prices while the poorer countries and oil producing and exporting countries have significantly lesser prices.
One notable exception is the USA, which is an economically advanced country but has low petrol prices. The differences in petrol prices across countries are due to the various taxes and subsidies for gasoline". It added, "All countries have access to the same petrol price of the international oil market but each decide to impose different taxes. As a result, the retail price of petrol is different in different countries. In some cases like Venezuela, the government further subsidizes petroleum due to which people there pay close to nothing to drive their vehicles".
© Arab Times 2015
