Gasoline prices are steadily rising toward the $4 mark again this year, causing many Americans to complain about the higher prices at the pump.
However, should Americans count their blessings that gasoline prices aren’t as high as they are worldwide?
T. Boone Pickens thinks so.
“We have the cheapest oil by 20 percent, and we have the cheapest natural gas by 80 percent, and we have gasoline at $4, Europe at $9,” Pickens told CNBC. “So, I don’t understand why people are complaining.”
Americans are paying on average $3.93-per-gallon of gasoline, according to AAA gas gauge. Texans are paying $3.84, and Houston drivers are paying on average $3.89-per-gallon of unleaded fuel.
According to MyTravelCost.com, Americans have the 21st least expensive gasoline in the world in March 2012. Several Middle Eastern and South American countries have gasoline much cheaper than the U.S., but most other countries are paying significantly more.
You only need to look at Turkey to see had bad gasoline prices could be.
Turkish drivers paid on average around $11-per-gallon of gasoline in March, marking the highest gallon of gasoline in the world. Most European countries are paying several dollars higher than what Americans drivers are paying.
However, the fuss might not be over by the price itself but the rising costs domestic drivers have to deal with.
Drivers in the states aren’t seeing European gasoline prices this year, but they have experienced some of the world’s largest increases in gasoline prices in 2012, according to data from The Economist.
U.S. gasoline prices rose around 12 percent over the past year. England, Germany and France saw prices edge up less than 6 percent during the same time.
Ireland, Latvia, Poland, Hungary and Italy saw larger increases than the U.S. Italy prices soared more than 18 percent.
So should Americans count their blessings for lower prices or do they have a valid complaint?