U.S. gasoline a bargain compared to global prices

For all the complaints about U.S. gas prices, Americans spent 63% less at the pump in July than Norwegians did on a gallon of the fuel—and the U.S. ranks 49th among 60 countries for average gas expenditures in a new data analysis published by Bloomberg. Premium gasoline was selling for $3.75 a gallon on July 23 in the United States, compared with $10.12 in top-ranked Norway. The U.S. price was behind Japan, China and India—the last being a country where people earn 2.9% of what Americans do, on average. Drivers in America, the biggest oil-consuming country, spend an average of 2.8% of their daily income on a gallon of gasoline, 55th in the ranking. In India, a gallon of premium gasoline costs 37% more than what a worker earns in one day. In Norway, which has the second-highest income on the list, lower only than Luxembourg, a gallon cost 3.7% of a day’s wages. U.S. prices dropped 11% from three months earlier as domestic oil production reached a 13-year high. “One of the reasons that Americans are able to use so much gasoline is because it’s relatively cheap,” says Peter Schiff, chief executive officer of Westport, Conn.-based brokerage Euro Pacific Capital, which has $3 billion in customer accounts. “A lot of Americans commute a long distance to work. In a lot of other countries, gas is a luxury and they maybe just take the car out for a drive on a Sunday.” Get more details in the full story here.