Crude Oil Prices hold steady above US$ 70 per barrel

By Ben Nakomo

The price of OPEC basket* of twelve crudes stood at 77.76 US dollars a barrel on Thursday, March 11, 2010, compared with $77.80 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. In countries across the world, consumers fret over rocketing gasoline prices. Fluctuating oil prices puts pressure on economies more especially in teh current dispensation of the global economic crunch. Motorists in Cameroon, a minor oil producing nation, recently clamoured for government to reduce prices for fuel at the pump. This call also resonates in major oil consuming nations of the north. The same er recent However, most variations in gasoline prices are not due to differences in crude prices, but to widely varying levels of taxation in the major consuming nations.

Who gets what from oil?
According to OPEC estimations shown in the graph presented here, wide regional variations in the prices (Dollar per Litre) of different oil products for 2008. However, these price variations are not due to differences in crude oil prices, but to varying levels of taxation in the major consuming nations. The blue portion of the bar graph above shows how much of the price of each litre of oil goes to oil producers; the yellow portion represents what goes to cover the industry margin; and the red portion presents the amount that goes to national government taxes. The graph indicates that tax levels range from relatively low levels in the USA to very high levels in many European countries. In the UK for example, the government generated substantially more from taxation than what OPEC Member Countries received from the sale of their oil.

And Who gets what from imported oil?
There are still many misconceptions surrounding crude oil prices and the prices of products made from oil, such as gasoline. As every driver knows, filling up a tank can be an expensive business. What is not generally known is just where most of that money goes. The graphs contained in this brochure shed some light on this...Read

* The new OPEC Reference Basket (ORB), introduced on 16 June 2005, is currently made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

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