Gasoline and diesel usage and pricing
consumption and pricing of gasoline and diesel fuel, as determined by market factors
The usage and pricing of gasoline (or petrol) results from factors such as crude oil prices, processing and distribution costs, local demand, the strength of local currencies, local taxation or subsidy, and the availability of local sources of gasoline (supply). Since fuels are traded worldwide, the trade prices are similar. The price paid by consumers largely reflects national pricing policy. Most countries impose taxes on gasoline (petrol), whereas a few, such as Venezuela, subsidize the cost. No country's taxes cover all the negative externalities (air pollution and CO2 emissions) associated with usage, that is they do not make the polluter pay the full cost. Western countries have among the highest usage rates per person. The largest consumer is the United States.
Fuel prices in the United States
In 2008, a report by Cambridge Energy Research Associates stated that 2007 had been the year of peak gasoline usage in the United States, and that record energy prices would cause an "enduring shift" in energy consumption practices. According to the report, in April fuel consumption had been lower than a year before for the sixth straight month, suggesting 2008 would be the first year US usage declined in 17 years. The total annual distance driven in the US began declining in 2006.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Gasoline and diesel usage and pricing” is consumption and pricing of gasoline and diesel fuel, as determined by market factors. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Gasoline, diesel and usage, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “consumption and pricing of gasoline and diesel fuel, as determined by market factors” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3569702. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2008, 2007 and 2006.
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This entry incorporates text from “Gasoline and diesel usage and pricing” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.