AMERICAN motorists got more bad news this week as the Department of Energy said the price of petrol is likely to stay around the recent record of $4 a gallon (3.8 litres) until 2010. Drivers have already been cutting back. The latest figures from the Department of Transportation show that in March, when fuel was a far more modest $3.22 a gallon, Americans drove 11 billion miles (17.7 billion km) fewer in comparison with a year earlier. The decrease compared with the previous year, of 4.3%, is the first since 1979, and the sharpest since 1942.

AP