“Some countries are hiding the reality of high fuel prices to keep political peace,” said David L. Goldwyn, an assistant secretary of energy during the Clinton administration.

The problem is that fuel subsidies can quickly add up — especially when oil prices keep rising as they have since 2003. It has been estimated that Yemen, for example, devotes 9 per cent of its GDP to holding down energy prices.

Only a handful of countries provide very high subsidies on their retail fuel sales. These include Venezuela, Turkmenistan, Syria, Algeria, Angola and Malaysia, and most of them are oil producers.

In fact, most countries have allowed domestic prices to creep up. Drivers in Tunisia, Honduras and Pakistan all paid more for their gasoline than Americans did last year, according to a survey of fuel prices compiled by GTZ, a German consulting firm. The survey found only 20 countries where the price of gasoline was below $2 a gallon, that is, lower than the cost of refining it.

In most European countries, the opposite is true. Governments slap on high taxes — sometimes as high as 80 per cent of the cost — in part to discourage consumption.

In the US, where taxes represent about 20 per cent of gasoline prices, regular gas averaged about $2.35 a gallon last year. It’s up to $2.80 these days. Still, the mere mention of raising gasoline taxes remains almost tantamount to political suicide.

When it comes to energy policy, the most closely watched country is China, whose surge in demand has helped propel prices upward. Though pollution has taken a toll on China’s environment, the restive demands of the rural have-nots left far behind by the urban haves cannot be ignored. Last year, there were 90,000 protests against local governments, according to Michael Green, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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