Diesel and petrol prices vary a great deal around the world. The price in each territory is largely dictated by the following factors:

• price of crude oil
• processing costs
• distribution costs
• local demand
• local currency fluctuations
• local taxation
• fuel subsidies
• availability of local sources of oil

Taxation and fuel subsidies are by far the two biggest influencing factors over the difference in price between countries and crude oil pricing is the biggest determining overall cause of the change in fuel prices in most countries across the world.

Below is an infographic which shows the pricing of petrol and diesel in the cheapest and most expensive countries in the world, as well as all the major economies and major oil producers of the world. In total we have listed the average price of diesel and petrol in 2015 across 25 countries.

Observations

In Venezuela you can find the cheapest diesel and petrol in the world. As a large oil producing country they have access to their own oil reserves and in addition to this it is sold at below the cost of producing it. This is possible due to the state owned oil company and government subsidies of petrol and diesel.

They have had low prices in Venezuela since 1998 when the PSUV and its forerunners began to hold National Assembly in Venezuela. Many Venezuelans feel they are entitled to low fuel prices, which makes it hard for any government to increase prices significantly. Unfortunately most Venezuelans do not understand the true cost of such cheap pricing or that ultimately it is unsustainable.

Norway on the other hand have the highest priced fuel in the world due to high taxation. They pay around 100 times more per litre than Venezuelans. It is said that the Norwegians heavily tax fuel to deter vehicle usage and keep omissions as low as possible.

Ironically Norway are also big oil producers, but due to the high profit margins oil companies can make by selling it abroad, 95% of it is exported. Therefore oil is imported from such places as Russia to supply their domestic market.

Europeans and the Japanese tend to pay more for fuel due to high taxes and countries such as Venezuela and Saudi Arabia subsidise their fuel and therefore they enjoy much cheaper prices at the pump.

Western countries are amongst the biggest users of fuel with the US being the biggest consumer of diesel and petrol in the world, using over 1,393,000,000 litres a day.