Caracas , Venezuela...12 cents....as of 5/15/07 Gas is cheap in other places and high in the netherlands 6.48?

Answer 1

Venezuela is one of the world's largest oil producers. The Venezuelan government is also subsidizing gasoline prices to its own people to a very large extent. 12 cents a gallon is far less than the price of crude oil on the world market.
Hugo Chavez may be crazy, but he's not stupid.

The Netherlands, like most European governments, doesn't subsidize gas prices at all. In addition, a large part of that 6.48 is taxes of various types.
Here in the US (California), gas is approximately US$3.25 per gallon. That includes Federal taxes, State transportation taxes, and sales tax (what you know as VAT). The price also includes the cost of pollution abatement additives - I'm sure you have something like that as well.