10 Places Where a Gallon of Gas Is More Expensive Than in the U.S.

If it’s been a while since you filled up, you might be in for a rude awakening the next time you visit the gas station. Prices have been rising steadily in the past few weeks on skyrocketing crude oil prices; the cost of a gallon of regular gas stands at $3.57, up 19 cents from a month ago. The rise has given fodder to Republican presidential candidates seeking an angle of economic attack on President Barack Obama and put another wrinkle in Americans’ tight budgets.

We can’t tell you things are going to get better in the near future, but we can tell you things could be a lot worse. While gas prices seem high in the U.S., other countries are saddled with prices at the pump that would give an American driver a heart attack. To find out where drivers have it worse, we spoke to Airinc, a Cambridge, Mass.-based consulting firm that tracks average gas prices at select major cities around the world. Here are 10 cities where gas prices eclipse the pump prices in America, along with the average retail price for a gallon of gasoline.

Most Expensive Gas in the World: Asmara, Eritrea
Cost per gallon of regular gas: $9.58
Cost per gallon of premium gas: (Unavailable)

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2nd Most Expensive: Oslo, Norway
Cost per gallon of regular gas: $9.33
Cost per gallon of premium gas: $9.69

3rd Most Expensive: Rome
Cost per gallon of regular gas: $8.51
Cost per gallon of premium gas: $8.71

4th Most Expensive: Copenhagen, Denmark
Cost per gallon of regular gas: $8.48
Cost per gallon of premium gas: $8.77

5th Most Expensive: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Cost per gallon of regular gas: $8.46
Cost per gallon of premium gas: $8.55

6th Most Expensive: London
Cost per gallon of regular gas: $8.12
Cost per gallon of premium gas: $8.35

7th Most Expensive: Paris
Cost per gallon of regular gas: $8.06
Cost per gallon of premium gas: $8.56

8th Most Expensive: Hong Kong
Cost per gallon of regular gas: $7.85
Cost per gallon of premium gas: $8.30

9th Most Expensive: Berlin
Cost per gallon of regular gas: $7.76
Cost per gallon of premium gas: $8.34

10th Most Expensive: Tokyo
Cost per gallon of regular gas: $6.59
Cost per gallon of premium gas: $7.15

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Honorable Mention
While these cities all have it worse than the U.S. in the gas department, don’t think we’re beating the whole world at the pump. Several cities have dirt-cheap gas prices, and unsurprisingly they tend to be in oil-producing countries. In Kuwait City, for instance, a gallon of gas at the pump costs the equivalent of 82 cents, while in the Saudi Arabian capital city of Riyadh it’s just 45 cents. The clear winner, though, is oil-rich Venezuela, where government subsidies make a gallon of regular gas cost just 6 cents in Caracas.