USA: The Country Consumes 25% of the World Production of Oil and Products

USA: The country consumes 25% of the world production of oil and products. At the moment it misses 160 mil lt/d of petrol, about 10% of its total consumption, consequent on the damage hurricane Katrina caused to refineries. As the US has only crude oil in reserves, it is now buying petrol from Europe. Since 2 Sep 2005 it has arranged contracts for 30 tankers to transport the fuel. The outflow of petrol from Europe to the USA is the cause of the rise of petrol prices in Europe. According to some forecasts, in Germany the price of petrol will grow to EUR 1.80/lt before the winter season from the current EUR 1.44/lt, which is to rise to more than EUR 1.50/lt shortly. During the weekend of 3-4 Sep 2005, the prices of petrol in the Czech Republic increased by CEK 2-3/lt to CEK 32-33/lt.