The price of gasoline threatens to smash the ordinary $2 per liter threshold in the greater Montreal area. : COVID-19, war in Ukraine, control of supply by OPEC. But Quebec is not the only place where motorists pay top dollar for gas. An overview of prices at the pump, from London to Beijing.
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Sweden
Quebecers who are overwhelmed by the price of gasoline would do better not to settle in this Scandinavian country. The price of a liter of petrol there is around 25 crowns, which, according to the current exchange rate, is equivalent to around $3.20 per litre.
Venezuela
On the other hand, refueling in Venezuela, a country that has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, would be quite a boon for a Quebec motorist. The price displayed at the pump fluctuates around 0.10 Venezuelan bolivar per litre, which is equivalent to 3 Canadian cents per litre.
France
In France, a liter of gasoline sold for an average of 2.07 euros ($2.91) on Thursday. This is a jump of 18.6 cents in one week. However, the price is even higher in some areas: in Paris, for example, one can expect to pay up to 2.4 euros ($3.38) at some gas stations.
AFP
Fuel prices displayed at a Paris gas station on Wednesday
Nigeria
In Nigeria, the most populous country on the African continent, the average price is 288 naira per litre. In Canadian dollars, this equates to a price of about 90 cents.
China
China also experienced a meteoric rise in the price of gasoline during the month of February. The posted price is now the equivalent of $1.75 per litre, a price relatively comparable to what we see in Canada.
And elsewhere in Canada?
As of Thursday, the average gas price in Quebec was 196¢/L, according to CAA. This is not, however, the highest price in the country. In the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia, the average price exceeded the psychological mark of $2/L. The Canadian province where the price was the lowest is Alberta: you pay an average of 168.6¢/L there to fill up.
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This lowest rate in the country did not prevent Alberta Premier Jason Kenney from reducing the provincial gas tax starting on 1is April in order to give citizens a break.
In Quebec, François Legault excludes this idea but indicates that he will compensate in another way for the inflation from which taxpayers suffer, either by sending them a check provided for in the next budget.
Why such a big disparity?
What explains why prices fluctuate so much from one country to another? For Pierre-Olivier Pineau, holder of the Chair in Energy Sector Management at HEC Montréal, the level of taxes is the main explanation.
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“In European countries they have a lot more sales tax. They haven’t had any for a long time,” he says.
Subsidies also have a role to play: “Some countries, like Venezuela, which are oil producers, sell refined petroleum products to their population at a discount, as a gift, because it is a local product. It’s a bit like us: we sell electricity at a discount to Quebecers, to residential consumers,” he adds.