Oil consumption - who consumes what?

[JohnFKennedy]

The USA consumes almost as much as the entirety of Europe? That is slightly shocking.

sbane, gas prices in the USA are still far lower than throughout much of Europe.

[JohnFKennedy]

So we call shenanigans on story's from newspapers we don't like and ignore them, but it's ok to post blogs if they agree with us?  Gotcha!

I believe most people are focusing on the figures rather than the blog itself and the figures are from BP.

[JohnFKennedy]

Which newspapers are we talking about here? If it is the Daily Mail then I don't think it is the figures that people ignore but the spin on it and there are often good reasons to; the Daily Mail is more than prone to sensationalism. I remember meeting somebody who wrote for either the Mail or the Daily Mirror who outright stated that they were encouraged to write misleading articles and also falsify stories in the interest of their political remit. Likewise with other papers, I would imagine that people don't dispute government figures, but the way they are employed politically. Then again, I can't speak for everyone on this site so of course there could be some who would outright disagree with the figures, it all depends on whether they have a legitimate reason to. For instance, people will often disagree with polls conducted and often they have good reason to.

[JohnFKennedy]

Which newspapers are we talking about here? If it is the Daily Mail then I don't think it is the figures that people ignore but the spin on it and there are often good reasons to; the Daily Mail is more than prone to sensationalism.

Agreed, but can't you say the same things about blogs?  Are you to suggest the author of the OP is spin free?

I completely agree that you can say the same thing about blogs. Thusfar people have been commenting mainly on the raw data rather than the blog entry itself; I only read the entry after I'd posted commenting on the statistics.