In this article, we are going to discuss the 30 countries with the highest gas prices. You can skip our detailed analysis of the country with the cheapest gas in the world, the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the oil and gas industry, the rise of biorefineries, and the size of the global oil and gas market, and go directly to 10 Countries with the Highest Gas Prices.
The average price of gasoline in the world is currently around $5 a gallon. However, there is a substantial difference between gas prices in different countries. As a general rule, richer countries have higher gas prices, while the prices in poorer countries or countries that produce and export oil are significantly lower. All countries have access to the same petroleum prices in international markets, but the various subsidies and taxes imposed after can vary significantly.
Country with the Cheapest Gas:
Venezuela is the country with the cheapest gas in the world. Gasoline is available at a subsidized rate of $0.015 a gallon in the South American country, which ranks among the Top Oil Producing Countries in the World.
According to the 2022 BP Statistical Review of World Energy, Venezuela has more proven oil reserves than any other country in the world. Saudi Arabia comes in at close second, but gas prices are relatively much higher in the Middle Eastern country. 1 liter of petrol in Saudi Arabia costs $0.621.
Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War:
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused a global energy crisis and made the already high wholesale gas prices skyrocket, driving historic gains for oil and gas producers. A number of Western industry giants made commitments to exit the Russian market following the invasion but even after more than a year, very little progress has been made.
Russia’s largest oil company, Rosneft, announced last week that it would pay its shareholders $4.54 billion in dividend payments for last year. One of these shareholders is the British oil major BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP), which despite pledging to sell its 20% stake in Rosneft, still owns the same amount now as it did before the war. BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) stands to earn over $887 million from the Russian oil giant.
Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) also stands to net just under $1.41 billion after the Russian gas company, Novatek, bid for its stake in a major oil and gas development in the far east, Sakhalin-ll.
Similarly, TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TTE) also still owns a 19.4% stake in Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer – Novatek. At the end of last year, TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TTE) took a $3.75 billion write-off on its stake in the Russian company.
Biorefineries:
Biorefineries are processing facilities that convert biomass into energy and value-added products, like biofuels, biochemicals etc. The increasing pressure to decarbonize has incentivized several oil refineries to repurpose their refiners to ‘stand-alone biorefineries’, that produce lower carbon intensive biofuels.
TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TTE) announced in 2020 that it would invest around $600 million to convert its refinery in Seine-et-Marne, France, from refining petroleum to refining natural oils and fats. The company plans to complete the conversion by 2024 and produce up to 170,000 tonnes of aviation oil, 120,000 tonnes of diesel, and 50,000 tonnes of naphtha for making renewable plastics per year.
Similarly, Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) is also building a 820,000 tonnes-per-year biofuels plant in Rotterdam, and has targeted to make about 2 million tonnes per year of sustainable aviation fuel by 2025. But despite the pledges and growth in renewables, ‘big oil’ only spent 1% of its combined budget on green energy schemes in 2018.
Global Oil and Gas Market:
According to The Business Research Company, the global oil and gas market was valued at $6.99 trillion in 2022, and is expected to grow to $8.67 trillion in 2027, with a CAGR of 4.4% during the forecast period.
Major companies in the industry are looking into big data analytics and AI to enhance decision making abilities and thus profits. AI will allow these companies to make better drilling and operational decisions.
To collect data for this article, we have referred to the current prices of gasoline in each country, as displayed on GlobalPetrolPrices. The Countries with the Highest Prices of Gas have been ranked according to their gasoline prices on the 17th of July 2023.
30. New Zealand
Price of Gas per Gallon: $6.68
Gas prices in New Zealand averaged $5.3 per gallon from 2004 until 2023, reaching a record high of $7.71 per gallon in May of 2022 and an all time low of $2.68 per gallon in April 2004.
29. Croatia
Price of Gas per Gallon: $6.7
Croatia is a net importer of petroleum and the country was consuming an average of 10.76 thousand barrels of gasoline per day in 2021. With a price of $6.7 per gallon, Croatia ranks among the countries with most expensive gas.
28. Spain
Price of Gas per Gallon: $6.72
Spain has added its name to the growing list of European countries banning new oil and gas exploration. The country’s new climate change and energy transition law also prohibited the sale of fossil-fuel vehicles by 2040, and made it illegal to produce fossil fuels in the country from the beginning of 2043.
27. Belize
Price of Gas per Gallon: $6.88
Belize has two oil fields, the Spanish Outlook Oilfield and the Never Delay Oilfield, in production with the assistance of Belize Natural Energy Ltd., but both these fields are in decline.
26. Ireland
Price of Gas per Gallon: $6.9
Ireland has witnessed no commercial discoveries of oil to date. In April 2023, petroleum consumption in Ireland was around 169,000 barrels per day. The Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) has a presence in Ireland through its subsidiary Esso.
25. United Kingdom
Price of Gas per Gallon: $6.95
There are 120 onshore oil and gas sites with 250 operating wells in the U.K., producing between 20,000 and 250,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) is a leading oil and gas producer based in the country and ranks among the Biggest Energy Companies in the UK.
24. Uruguay
Price of Gas per Gallon: $6.97
According to the OEC, Uruguay imported $1.06 billion in crude petroleum in 2021, becoming the 54th largest crude petroleum importer in the world. The country imports crude petroleum mostly from Nigeria and the U.S.
23. Central African Republic
Price of Gas per Gallon: $7.07
The Central African Republic ranks 23rd in our list of countries with the highest gas prices. The country is not an oil producer and relies completely on imports to satisfy its domestic demand for fuel and other oil related products.
22. Sweden
Price of Gas per Gallon: $7.1
The Swedish parliament also passed a law in June 2022, banning any new licenses for the exploration of new oil and gas reserves in the country. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden significantly reduced its imports of Russian crude oil.
21. Portugal
Price of Gas per Gallon: $7.15
In Portugal, the consumption of fuel during the first four months of this year hit a record for the past decade, increasing 19% compared to the same period last year. Portuguese oil company Galp Energia posted a record full-year profit of $1.64 billion in 2022, mainly due to higher oil prices and refining margins.
20. Estonia
Price of Gas per Gallon: $7.16
Estonia has no oil refineries of its own and the country is mostly dependent on oil imports from Russia. The Baltic country imported $2.19 billion of refined petroleum in 2021, becoming the 70th largest importer of refined petroleum in the world.
19. San Marino
Price of Gas per Gallon: $7.25
With $7.25 per gallon, San Marino ranks 19th among the countries with the highest petrol prices. One of the smallest countries in the world, San Marino relies entirely on imports for its fossil fuel requirements. Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E) is a gas distributor in the mountainous microstate.
18. Belgium
Price of Gas per Gallon: $7.28
Belgium has well-developed oil infrastructure, including a large import terminal at the port of Antwerp, several large refineries, notable oil storage capacity, and extensive pipeline infrastructure. Petrofina SA is the largest oil company in the country.
17. Liechtenstein
Price of Gas per Gallon: $7.34
The price of octane-95 gasoline in Liechtenstein is $1.94 per liter. With a staggering GDP per capita of $184,083 in 2021, the country depends entirely on imports for its refined petroleum needs and has no reserves or refineries of its own.
16. Israel
Price of Gas per Gallon: $7.4
Israel began its first-ever crude oil exports earlier this year, with the loading of a cargo of oil from the mainly gas producing Karish field. In April 2021, the UAE’s Mubadala Petroleum signed an MoU to buy a 22% stake in Israel’s Tamar offshore field, in a landmark deal worth around $1.1 billion.
15. Singapore
Price of Gas per Gallon: $7.54
Singapore is among the Countries with the Largest Refining Capacity. With a nameplate capacity of around 592,000 barrels a day, Singapore Refinery is Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)’s largest in the world.
14. Albania
Price of Gas per Gallon: $7.55
The total investment in Albania’s oil and gas sector in 2018 was around $1.4 billion, a third of which was invested directly by Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL).
13. Germany
Price of Gas per Gallon: $7.61
Germany is also an important player in the global oil refining industry. In 2021, the country had a refining capacity of 2.12 million barrels per day.
12. Barbados
Price of Gas per Gallon: $7.63
Barbados is among the countries with the most expensive gas. The country produces about 1,000 barrels of oil per day, which is sent to Trinidad for refining.
11. France
Price of Gas per Gallon: $7.7
France currently has seven operating oil refineries, with a total capacity of about 1.15 million barrels a day. The French energy giant TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TTE) is a major player in the global oil and gas industry and boasted a profit of around $20.53 billion in 2022.
