Why gas in the U.S. is so cheap

Americans are feeling the pain of spiking prices at the gas pump more acutely than citizens in other countries because they've become accustomed to cheap fuel and large cars, experts say.

clipped from viewer.zoho.com clipped from money.cnn.com Despite daily headlines bemoaning record gas prices, the U.S. is actually one of the cheaper places to fill up in the world. Out of 155 countries surveyed, U.S. gas prices were the 45th cheapest The U.S. has always fought to keep gas prices low, and the current debate among presidential candidates on how to keep them that way has been fierce. Cheap gas prices have also lulled Americans into a cycle of buying bigger cars and bigger houses further away from their work - leaving them more exposed to rising prices Comparing gas prices across nations is always difficult. For starters, the AIRINC numbers don't take into account different salaries in different countries, or the different exchange rates. The dollar has lost considerable ground to the euro recently. Because oil is priced in dollars, rising oil prices aren't as hard on people paying with currencies which are stronger than the dollar Gasoline costs roughly the same to make no matter where in the world it's produced