The Cheapest Petrol In The World

I happen to live in a country which is one of the most expensive places in the world to buy petrol (or gas if you are from the USA). At the moment I am paying around £1.35 per litre, ($2.22) which is over £6 per gallon in old money.

It always strikes me as funny how new car salesman tell us about how economic a car model is in miles per gallon but we all know that when we buy fuel, it is measured in litres. The word bamboozle springs to mind.

Meanwhile back to the gripe, our government insist on taxing us to the hilt and take a whopping 60% per litre in duty and vat. Blimey, at least Dick Turpin wore a mask ( he was a famous highwayman, back in the 1700's). So when I saw a report on the 10 cheapest places in the world to fill your tank, I was amazed, jealous and dumbstruck at the prices they pay.

A big thank you to Mark Atkinson for researching this information.

10. Algiers, Algeria

Algeria is a country that depends on oil. The oil-and-gas sector accounts for over 60% of revenues, 30% of GDP and 95% of its export earnings. Now get this, a massive 20p per litre and they have the sunshine as well.

9. Muscat, Oman

Oman is a massive oil producer, producing over half a million barrels of oil a day. The government there are at least trying out new things like Tourism to bring to an end it's reliance on oil. A massive 20p per litre.

8. Cairo, Egypt

What is all this about? A country that hardly produces it's own oil, but the government have subsidised the prices down to a measly 19p per litre. Take notice Mr Cameron.

7. Doha, Qatar

The hosts of the football World Cup in 2022 are swimming in oil. The second richest per capita with the lowest unemployment in the world and at the pump price of 15p per litre make this place sound rather attractive. In the words of Homer Simpson (Hmmm, Football World Cup)

6. Kuwait City

A very densely populated, small country that has a very nice government. Yes, this is the place that was invaded by Saddam Hussein and led to the start of the gulf war. Subsidised down to 14p per litre.

5. Manama, Bahrain

The citizens of this small island state off the coast of Saudi Arabia, certainly enjoy the benefits of cheap fuel at a jaw dropping price of 13p per litre. One tenth of the price, I have to pay. It's just a pity they have nowhere to drive to, ha ha. Do I sound bitter?

4. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Yeah, I know. You have never heard of it. It's one of those countries that have broken away from the old Soviet Union. Still their government is cutting back on subsidies and now their fuel prices have rocketed up to wallet busting price of 12p per litre.

3. Tripoli, Libya

Even though they are having a civil war at the moment. They will certainly be able to afford to fill those tanks up at 9p a litre.

2. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The only surprise here is that the worlds greatest oil exporter isn't at the No. 1 spot. Still second spot is not too bad at 8p per litre. I believe they throw in a Rolls Royce too, once you have drove 1,000,000 miles. (that's not true. I am bitter)

1. Caracas, Venezuela

I bet that surprised you hey! Since Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999 the price paid by the people of this country is a massive 3p per litre. Now I can't speak for all of us Brit's but 3p per litre is slightly taking the mick. If you like driving then you would be crackers not to move to Caracas.

Like I said earlier, a big thank you to Mark Atkinson for the original article. He has done all the hard work in researching this subject. You can find his original article here.

I just couldn't resist putting my spin on the subject because I am a very disgruntled, overtaxed member of society