price of fuel

I was reading the Australian today and spotted the following

PETROL prices in three capital cities have topped $1.71 per litre today as a spike in the oil price last week finally catches up with motorists.

The pump price in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide was spotted reaching 171.9 cents a litre at some service stations.

Fuel outlets in various Sydney suburbs selling for different companies raised their unleaded price by up to 20 cents a litre today.

well that's gotta hurt. Still it works out at about €1.04 much less than we pay here in Finland where the price is about €1.50 ... Everyone seems to want the price to come down yet at the same time want to find alternative fuels and or slow down fuel usage.

Surely in a market economy if the prices are high it encourages alternatives, but if the prices are kept low we only value it less and waste it more?

oh well