FILL ’ER UP—GLOBALLY PART 2

YESTERDAY, WE FOUND HISTORICAL continuity in our sourcing of crude oil over the years. Today in Part 2, as is traditionally the case, we see the U.S. with lots of eggs in its basket: U.S. Energy Information Administration data include a total of 119 non-OPEC countries, with 35 showing March 2022 values. For instance, Canada’s 143,399,000 contrasts with South Africa’s 1000 monthly barrels.

The 13 OPEC countries include 8 active sources, with Saudi Arabia the largest at 16,630,000 monthly barrels.  Iran and Venezuela, for example, are sanctioned non-players.

What About the Sanctions Against Russia? CNBC addresses how Russia’s invasion has changed global oil flows. It reports, “European Union leaders reached an agreement this week [May 30, 2022] to ban the majority of Russian crude oil and petroleum product imports, but nations were already shunning the country’s oil, altering global flows for the commodity that powers the world.”

“Russian oil exports,” CNBC continues, “had already been hurt by some EU members acting preemptively in anticipation of potential measures, in addition to bans from countries including the United States, according to commodity data firm Kpler.”

November 2021 was a peak month for Euro imports of Russian oil. But, as CNBC notes, “Russian oil is still finding a buyer…. More oil than ever is heading to India and China, according to data from Kpler.”

CNBC cites Wolfe Research saying that “while Russian oil production has declined since the start of the war, exports have remained ‘surprisingly resilient.’ ” 

It continues, “The firm said that Russia has rerouted exports to places including India, which shows up in vessel traffic through the Suez Canal.”

Extended routing incurs an increase in transportation cost, but sanctioned Russian crude is still going at fire-sale pricing. [Ed.: Please reword.]

Still Cheap Gas by Global Standards. The GlobalPetrolPrices website, June 13, 2022, offers data on gasoline prices around the world. It writes, “The differences in prices across countries are due to the various taxes and subsidies for gasoline. All countries have access to the same petroleum prices of international markets but then decide to impose different taxes.”

“As a general rule,” GlobalPetrolPrices says, “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 GlobalPetrolPrices.com chart is fascinating. Here’s a  a sampling as of June 13, 2022 (with units changed to U.S. Gallons and Dollars): Venezuela underwrites its gasoline to the tune of 8¢/gal. Iran, 20¢/gal. Syria, $1.08/gal. Anyone tempted to move?

Saudi Arabia, $2.35/gal. Russia, $3.41/gal. Afghanistan, $3.62/gal. Ready to pack up yet?

For me Japan is a tantalizing choice; its gasoline is $4.69/gal. The U.S. appears on the GlobalPetrolPrices list at $5.19, just a tad less expensive than Australia’s $5.22.

The Caymans have always attracted me; $6.27/gal. Germany, $7.65/gal. New Zealand, $7.82/gal., Lithuania, $8.11/gal.

Taxation gets downright serious: The United Kingdom, $8.39/gal. Monaco, $8.92/gal. Norway, $10.22/gal. 

The full GlobalPetrolPrices chart confirms to me that we in the United States still have the cheapest gasoline anywhere I’d want to live. What about you? ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2022