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Figure 6. End user diesel retail prices in Austria, inclusive of all taxes. Euro per litre<br />
shale gas boom in the United States.<br />
Note also that gas prices in the Far<br />
East have generally been higher than<br />
other markets. This is because of<br />
the high cost of LNG in comparison<br />
to pipeline gas transmission. In addition,<br />
Asian countries are far away<br />
from the main natural gas producers,<br />
which further increases costs.<br />
As the Figure 5 indicates, coal prices<br />
also followed oil prices. Coal prices<br />
in the Asian market have also been<br />
higher when compared to other markets.<br />
Note also that coal price in the<br />
US market have deviated from other<br />
energy markets starting from 2009.<br />
3.2. PRICES OF REFINED OIL<br />
PRODUCTS IN THE EU<br />
Although end-user prices may vary<br />
across countries due to varying tax<br />
rates, national prices of refined oil<br />
products closely follows international<br />
prices. To illustrate this phenomenon,<br />
retail diesel prices in Austria<br />
over the period from January 2000 to<br />
May <strong>2014</strong> are shown below in Figure<br />
6, demonstrating that transport fuels<br />
moved in the same direction as international<br />
oil prices.<br />
Rising oil prices caused the retail<br />
price of transport fuels to increase<br />
in all countries. By 2012, gasoline<br />
prices in all member countries were<br />
above 1.2 Euro per litre. Figure 7 below<br />
provides a breakdown of gasoline<br />
prices in EU countries in 2012.<br />
As the figure shows, while retail prices<br />
varied considerably across countries,<br />
base prices (excluding taxes)<br />
were quite similar in all countries.<br />
Countries with relatively high income<br />
levels generally impose higher<br />
rates of tax for energy products. On<br />
the other hand, lower income countries<br />
tend to impose lower tax rates.<br />
The highest tax rates are imposed in<br />
Netherlands, Italy and the UK, while<br />
the lowest rates are imposed in Romania<br />
and Bulgaria.<br />
3.2. NATURAL GAS PRICES IN THE<br />
EU COUNTRIES<br />
Figure 8 below shows natural gas<br />
prices across EU countries. Unlike<br />
crude and refined oil products, the<br />
price of natural gas, excluding LNG<br />
deliveries, is not determined by international<br />
markets. In fact, the price<br />
of gas deliveries through pipelines is<br />
49<br />
CASPIAN REPORT, FALL <strong>2014</strong>
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