In spite of the recent nationwide fuel scarcity that made most motorists celebrate Christmas on long queues at filling stations, a report ranked Nigeria to be among the top 10 cheapest places to purchase petrol (per liter).
At the current pump price of 145 NGN per liter, Nigeria has been ranked as the eighth cheapest place in the world to buy petrol (of the 107 reviewed countries)
The average price of gasoline around the world on January 8, 2018, is 1.13 U.S. Dollar per liter.
It was observed that the beginning of 2018 was marked by retail fuel price changes in many countries with regulated fuel markets, but the most significant petrol price change was observed in Algeria, where the government approved a 17.5 percent increase of the official annual retail price of petrol.
However, there is a substantial difference in these prices among countries. As a general rule, richer countries have higher prices while poorer countries and the countries that produce and export oil have significantly lower prices.
One notable exception is the U.S. which is an economically advanced country but has low gas prices. The differences in prices across countries are due to the various taxes and subsidies for petrol.
Countries among the cheapest places to buy petrol are Venezuela ($0.01), Turkmenistan ($0.29), Kuwait ($0.35), Iran ($0.36), Egypt ($0.37), Algeria ($0.37), Ecuador ($0.39), Bahrain ($0.42) and Syria ($0.44).
All countries have access to the same petroleum prices of international markets. Petrol prices went down by more than one percent in Finland, Cape Verde, Australia, the Cayman Islands and South Africa, while the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, France, and Pakistan saw more than three percent increase in prices.
According to the report by Global Petrol Prices, Greece is among the Top 10 countries with the highest price. With $1.86 per liter, Greece is holding the 6th position together with Italy.
Among the European countries, Greece and Italy are holding the 4th position after Iceland, Norway and The Netherlands. With $2.02 per liter, Hong Kong is holding the 1st position together with Italy.
The report said, “As a general rule, richer countries have higher prices, while poorer countries and the countries that produce and export oil have significantly lower prices. One notable exception is the US, which is an economically advanced country but has low gas prices.
“The differences in prices across countries are due to the various taxes and subsidies for petrol. All countries have access to the same petroleum prices of international markets but then decide to impose different taxes. As a result, the retail price of petrol is different.”
