Editing Filling station (section)

==Fuel prices==
{{see also|Gasoline and diesel usage and pricing}}

===Europe===
[[File:Preismast AVIA Walldorf.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Fuel prices in Germany (cents per liter)]]
[[File:Morrisons filling station, Wetherby (1st February 2013) 003.JPG|thumb|right|Many supermarkets in Europe have branched into gasoline retailing, as shown by this [[Morrisons]] filling station in [[Wetherby]], [[West Yorkshire]], England]]
In [[European Union]] member states, gasoline prices are much higher than in North America due to higher [[fuel excise]] or [[taxation]], although the base price is also higher than in the US. Occasionally, price rises trigger national protests. In the UK, a large-scale protest in August and September 2000, known as '[[Fuel protests in the United Kingdom|The Fuel Crisis]]', caused wide-scale havoc not only across the UK, but also in some other EU countries. The [[First Blair ministry|UK Government]] eventually backed down by indefinitely postponing a planned increase in fuel duty. This was partially reversed during December 2006 when then-[[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] [[Gordon Brown]] raised fuel duty by 1.25 pence per liter.

{{Maplink|frame=yes
|raw=[
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q9337",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f06020", 
      "description": "1.45 €/L",
      "title": "Belgium"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q20",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#808080", 
      "title": "Norway",
      "description": "1, €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q35",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f00000", 
      "title": "Danmark",
      "description": "1.65 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q40",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#d0c038", 
      "title": "Austria",
      "description": "1.33 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q213",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#d0c038", 
      "title": "Tzechia",
      "description": "1.30 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q229",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#d0c038", 
      "title": "Cyprus",
      "description": "1.32 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q33",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f00000", 
      "title": "Finland",
      "description": "1.56 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q183",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f00000", 
      "title": "Germany",
      "description": "1.51 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q41",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f00000", 
      "title": "Greece",
      "description": "1.64 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q211",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#d0c038", 
      "title": "Latvia",
      "description": "1.30 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q347",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#0101c1", 
      "title": "TBC 347",
      "description": "1, €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q28",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#47c63e", 
      "title": "Hungary",
      "description": "1.24 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q347",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#c101c1", 
      "title": "TBC 347",
      "description": "1, €/L "
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q55",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f00000", 
      "title": "The Netherlands",
      "description": "1.68 €/L"
    }
},

{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q36",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#47c63e", 
      "title": "Poland",
      "description": "1.19 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q45",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f00000", 
      "title": "Portugal",
      "description": "1.59 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q29",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#d0c038", 
      "title": "Spain",
      "description": "1.33 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q39",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#808080", 
      "title": "Switzerland",
      "description": "No communication (not an EU member)"
    }
},

{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q34",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f00000", 
      "title": "Sweden",
      "description": "1.53 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q224",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f06020", 
      "title": "Croatia",
      "description": "1.40 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q37",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#d0c038", 
      "title": "Lithuania",
      "description": "1.26€/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q32",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#d0c038", 
      "title": "Luxembourg",
      "description": "1.28 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q214",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f06020", 
      "title": "Slovakia",
      "description": "1.41 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q191",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f06020", 
      "title": "Estonia",
      "description": "1.38 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q215",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f06020", 
      "title": "Slovenia",
      "description": "1.36 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q233",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f06020", 
      "title": "Malta",
      "description": "1.36 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q212429",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f00000",
      "title": "France",
      "description": "1.55 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q27",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f06020",
      "title": "Ireland",
      "description": "1.46 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q235, Q239, Q231",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f06020",
      "title": "Belgium",
      "description": "1.45 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q219",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#47c63e", 
      "title": "Bulgaria",
      "description": "1.15 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q38",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f00000", 
      "title": "Italy",
      "description": "1.64 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q218",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#47c63e", "title": "Romania",
      "description": "1.25 €/L"
    }
},
{
  "type": "ExternalData",
  "service": "geoshape",
  "ids": "Q145",
    "properties": {
      "fill": "#f06020",
      "title": "UK",
      "description": "1.46 €/L"
    }
}
]
|text=National prices representative of gasoline price (Eurosuper 95) on 24 September 2018, as provided by EU member states<br />
Legend:  <br />
{{legend inline|#47c63e|}} < €1.25 /L <  {{legend inline|#d0c038|}}  < €1.35 /L <  {{legend inline|#f06020|}}  < €1.50 /L < {{legend inline|#f00000|}} <br />
 {{legend inline|#808080|}} Non member state<br />
source European Union DG ENER
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/energy/maps/maps_weekly_oil_bulletin/latest_Oil_Prices_ES95.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008150456/http://ec.europa.eu/energy/maps/maps_weekly_oil_bulletin/latest_Oil_Prices_ES95.pdf|url-status=live|title=CONSUMER PRICES OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (INCLUSIVE OF DUTIES AND TAXES)|archive-date=2017-10-08}}</ref>
|frame-width=200|frame-height=170
|frame-lat=50|frame-long=20|zoom=2
}}

Since 2007, gasoline prices in the UK rose by nearly 40 pence per liter, going from 97.3 pence per liter in 2007 to 136.8 pence per liter in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.carsandgarages.co.uk/news/31-Petrol-sales-fall-as-prices-soar|title=Cars and Garages: Diagnose Problems, Estimate Costs & Find Garages|access-date=10 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611202631/http://www.carsandgarages.co.uk/news/31-Petrol-sales-fall-as-prices-soar|archive-date=11 June 2015}}</ref>

In much of Europe, including the UK, France and Germany, stations operated by large supermarket chains usually price fuel lower than stand-alone stations. In most of mainland Europe, sales tax is lower on diesel fuel than on gasoline, and diesel is accordingly the cheaper fuel: in the UK and Switzerland, diesel has no tax advantage and retails at a higher price by quantity than gasoline (offset by its higher energy yield).

In 2014, according to [[Eurostat]], the mean EU28 price was €1.38 /L for euro-super 95 (gasoline), €1.26 /L for diesel.<ref name="Consumer_prices" />
The least expensive gasoline was in Estonia at €1.10 /L, and the most expensive at €1.57 /L in Italy.<ref name="Consumer_prices">{{Cite web | url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=File:Consumer_prices_of_petroleum_products,_end_of_second_half_2014_%28EUR_per_litre%29_YB15-fr.png |title = File:Consumer prices of petroleum products, end of second half 2014 (EUR per litre) YB15-fr.png - Statistics Explained}}</ref>
The least expensive diesel was in Estonia at €1.14 /L, and the most expensive at €1.54 /L in the UK.<ref name="Consumer_prices" />
The least expensive [[liquefied petroleum gas|LPG]] was in Belgium at €0.50 /L, and the most expensive at €0.83 /L in France.<ref name="Consumer_prices" />

===North America===
[[File:Gas-pump-Indiana-USA.jpg|thumb|right|[[Pay at the pump|Pay-at-the-pump]] gasoline pump]]
[[File:Annual and monthly averages of U.S. retail prices for regular grade gasoline and major price components from January 2014 through March 2019 and forecasted to December 2019 (40662425773).png|thumb|Retail markup over crude oil and wholesale gasoline, 2014–2019]]
Nearly all filling stations in North America advertise their prices on large signs outside the stations.  Some locations have laws requiring such signage.<ref>{{cite news | title = A Shortage at the Pump: Not of Gas, but of 4s | first = Ken | last = Belson | work = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/nyregion/15four.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin | date = 2008-07-15 | access-date = 2008-07-15 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090417103014/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/nyregion/15four.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin | archive-date = 2009-04-17 }}</ref>

In Canada and the United States, federal, state or provincial, and local sales taxes are usually included in the price, although tax details are often posted at the pump and some stations may provide details on sales receipts. Gasoline taxes are often [[Ring Fenced|ring-fenced]] (dedicated) to fund transportation projects such as the maintenance of existing roads and the construction of new ones.

Individual filling stations in the United States have little if any control over gasoline prices.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}} The wholesale price of gasoline is determined according to area by oil companies which supply the gasoline, and their prices are largely determined by the world markets for oil. Individual stations are unlikely to sell gasoline at a loss, and the profit margin—typically between 7 and 11 cents a US gallon (2–3 cents per liter)—that they make from gasoline sales is limited by competitive pressures: a gas station which charges more than others will lose customers to them.  Most stations try to compensate by selling higher-margin food products in their [[convenience stores]].

Even with oil market fluctuations, prices for gasoline in the United States are among the lowest in the industrialized world; this is principally due to lower taxes. While the sales price of gasoline in Europe is more than twice that in the United States, the price excluding taxes is nearly identical in the two areas. Some Canadians and Mexicans in communities close to the US border drive into the United States to purchase cheaper gasoline.

Due to heavy fluctuations in price in the United States, some stations offer their customers the option to buy and store gasoline for future uses, such as the service provided by First Fuel Bank.

In order to save money, some consumers in Canada and the United States inform each other about low and high prices through the use of [[gasoline price website]]s. Such websites allow users to share prices advertised at filling stations with each other by posting them to a central server. Consumers then may check the prices listed in their geographic area in order to select the station with the lowest price available at the time. Some television and radio stations also compile pricing information via viewer and listener reports of pricing or reporter observations and present it as a regular segment of their newscasts, usually before or after traffic reports. These price observations must usually be made by reading the pricing signs outside stations, as many companies do not give their prices by telephone due to competitive concerns. It is a criminal offense to have written or verbal arrangements with competitors, suppliers or customers for:

* Fixing prices and exchanging information on prices or cost (including discounts and rebates),
* Limiting or restraining competition unduly,
* Engaging in misleading or deceptive practices.

Gas stations must never hold discussions with other competitors regarding pricing policies and methods, terms of sale, costs, allocation of markets or boycotts of our petroleum products.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/home|title=Home|author=Competition Bureau Canada|access-date=10 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150609000744/http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/home|archive-date=9 June 2015}}</ref>

===Rest of the world===
[[File:GasStationHiroshima.jpg|thumb|left|Like many gasoline stands in Japan, this [[Showa Shell Sekiyu|Shell]] filling station has hoses that hang from above.]]
In other energy-importing countries such as Japan, gasoline and petroleum product prices are higher than in the United States because of fuel transportation costs and taxes.

On the other hand, some of the major oil-producing countries such as the [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|Gulf states]], Iran, Iraq, and Venezuela provide subsidized fuel at well-below world market prices. This practice tends to encourage heavy consumption.

Hong Kong has some of the highest pump prices in the world, but most customers are given discounts as card members.

Singapore, like Hong Kong, also has similarly high pump prices, which are largely based on a pricing strategy called [[Mean of Platts Singapore]] (MOPS). As Singapore does not have any oil reserves of its own, the city-state has instead built several off-shore refineries to refine oil imported mostly from Indonesian oil fields, as the latter country does not have enough refining capacity and capability of its own. Because neighbouring country Malaysia has cheaper pump prices than Singapore, cars registered in Singapore crossing over into Malaysia are legally required to have at least three-quarters of a tank of fuel since 1991 to prevent evading fuel duties,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/three-quarter-tank-rule-checkpoints-include-vehicles-running-diesel|title=Three-quarter tank rule at checkpoints to include vehicles running on diesel|website=TODAYonline|access-date=2019-11-01}}</ref> and when filling up in Malaysia, Singaporean-and Thai-registered hybrid and petrol-powered vehicles are legally restricted to only fill up on unsubsidised, premium-grade RON97-100 petrol, as RON95 petrol in Malaysia is partially subsidised by the [[Government of Malaysia]] for the benefit of lower-income Malaysian residents.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/jb-petrol-ron95-causeway-fuel-fine-singapore-malaysia-4056381 | title=JB petrol kiosks on 'high alert' for foreign vehicles pumping subsidised RON95 fuel amid larger fines of over RM1 million }}</ref>

In [[Western Australia]] a program called [[FuelWatch]] requires most filling stations to notify their "tomorrow prices" by 2{{nbsp}}pm each day; prices are changed at 6{{nbsp}}am each morning, and must be held for 24 hours. Each afternoon, the prices for the next day are released to the public and the media, allowing consumers to decide when to fill up.