Well 86% of that (i.e. £3.13) goes to the Government. How's that for natural resources being shared by all.

Very true. We may not like the stuff they spend our money on, but at least it's our money, and if we make them we could make sure it's spent on things that we need. Unlike the profit made by the oil companies.

And for an example of that - look at this link to a story about how, 15 years on from the Exxon Valdez disaster, the company hasn't paid a penny to the fishing communities affected, or to undo the damage they did - and the US government is in their corner. That's only to be expected, since they were bought and paid for long ago.

That's the real cost of gasoline - and it's very expensive indeed, for the people and the places that have to bear it.