               Gas Prices



     ROME -- In Rome, gasoline has shot to almost
$5 a  gallon  since  Iraq  invaded  Kuwait.  Many
Swedes are paying $75 to fill 'er up.            
     But analysts  say despite  exorbitant  price
hikes, Western  Europe will  be less damaged than
the United States by rising energy prices.       
     ``The picture  that I  draw is  of a  Europe
that is  not as dependent on oil as it was at the
beginning of this decade,'' said Peter Bogin, the
assistant director  for oil  markets at Cambridge
Energy Research Associates in Paris.             
     Oil and  gas prices have increased worldwide
since Iraq  invaded Kuwait   Aug. 2. The price of                    
a barrel of light sweet crude hit $32 in New York                              
before  receding   this  week,  following  OPEC's                              
decision to  boost production to make up for lost                              
Iraqi and Kuwaiti oil.                                                         
     Analysts expect  the oil  crisis to  push up                              
inflation and  slow growth in Western Europe. But                              
there is little talk about an imminent recession,
as in  the United  States. That's  because of the
factors  in   Europe's  favor:   relatively  good
economic health,   a  drop in  oil use   and  the
cheapness of  the dollar,  the currency  used for
oil purchases.                                   
     Western Europe  and the United States import
about the  same amount  of crude  oil per person,
Mr. Bogin  said. But  in addition to the imports,
Americans use  an equal  amount  of  domestically
produced oil.                                    
     ``We're gas  guzzlers. That's the problem,''
said  Paul   Horne,  an  American  who  is  chief
international   economist    for   Smith   Barney                    
International in Paris.                                                        
     Europeans have  always relied  less on  cars                              
than Americans do.  With traditionally lower
incomes,  Europeans   bought  fewer,   more  gas-                              
efficient  cars.   Many   governments   developed                              
extensive train systems.                                                       

     Western   Europe    was   still   hit   hard
economically by  the energy crises of 1973-74 and
1978-80. But  when gas  prices  started  falling,
many  governments  kept  them  artificially  high
through  taxation,   aiming  in   part   to   cut
consumption.                                     
     In the  last decade, Western Europe has also
followed  the   United  States  in  slashing  its
reliance on oil to produce electricity.          
     France, for  example, has become the world's
leader in  reliance on  nuclear  energy,  getting
more than  80 percent  of  its  electricity  from
nuclear plants.                                   
     Although Western  Europe is  not expected to                      
suffer the  economic damage  it did from previous                              
oil crises,  there is  still concern  about price                              
increases at  the pump  since the Aug. 2 invasion                              
of Kuwait.                                                                     
     The increases  have varied  widely,  ranging                              
from no  rise in  pump prices  in Portugal,  to 8                              
percent in  Italy, to  as much  as 22  percent in
Greece.                                          
     The increases  have prompted  France to slap
on price controls and West Germany and Britain to                     
investigate  oil   companies'  pricing  policies.                              
Italy  plans   to  freeze   prices  of  petroleum                              
products for  three months. NAF, Norway's largest                              
auto association,  boycotted Shell stations for a                              
week after  they became the first to raise prices                              
before old supplies had been used up.                                          



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