Fuel fears have US over a barrel

REFINED, distilled and then burnt, petrol’s explosive power propels the world’s largest economy. But its soaring price is punching holes in the US engine – and the rest of us are anything but immune.

The globe’s thirstiest energy consumer is reeling from high petrol prices, with a barrel of oil hitting $US137 ($145) on Thursday’s markets. Even if there is still division about whether the high point of global production – “peak oil” – has been reached, most analysts agree that cheap oil is finished.


Although American drivers are being hit at the bowser by an average national price that would make Australian drivers happy indeed – $US4.08 a gallon (our equivalent of $1.13 a litre), that’s up 36% from this time last year and up 89% from June 2005.

Pump prices are being blamed for a surge in shoplifting, theft of fuel from farms and more restrictive baggage allowances on planes. Even the race for the presidency has become about how to fix the problem. But the oil rises come on top of other smouldering financial crises.

The Age