At the pump - the world fills up

At the pump - the world fills up

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Whether it is plastic bottles by the roadside in Malaysia or a futuristic forecourt in Los Angeles, fuel stations help define our world.

As global oil prices fell, Reuters photographers shot a series of pictures of fuel stations from Brazil, pictured above, to Japan, in the remote countryside or in bustling cities.

. GASSE, Germany. REUTERS/Michael Dalder

The price of crude oil has dropped by more than half since June 2014, hitting the revenues of oil-producing nations. Motorists, though, are feeling richer as prices fall at the petrol pumps.

There are hundreds of thousands of gas or petrol stations around the world. The United States alone boasts some 121,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. China, where the number of gas stations has been growing fast, now has just under 100,000.

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A vintage Shell sign is seen illuminated at a gas station in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
. CAMBRIDGE, UNITED STATES. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

A vintage Shell sign is seen illuminated at a gas station in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Helios House gas station is pictured in Los Angeles, California.
. LOS ANGELES, United States. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

The Helios House gas station is pictured in Los Angeles, California.

A Pemex gas station is seen in Mexico City.
. Mexico City, Mexico. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

A Pemex gas station is seen in Mexico City.

A vintage car with its bonnet raised is seen parked at a gas station along the the seafront boulevard "El Malecon" in Havana.
. HAVANA, CUBA. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

A vintage car with its bonnet raised is seen parked at a gas station along the the seafront boulevard "El Malecon" in Havana.

A man fills up his 1976 Chevy Nova with gasoline at a PDVSA gas station in Caracas.
. CARACAS, Venezuela. Reuters/Jorge Silva

A man fills up his 1976 Chevy Nova with gasoline at a PDVSA gas station in Caracas.

An Atem floating gas station for small and medium vessels is seen in the middle of the Rio Negro river, near the Port of Panair in Manaus in Amazonas state.
. MANAUS, Brazil. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly

An Atem floating gas station for small and medium vessels is seen in the middle of the Rio Negro river, near the Port of Panair in Manaus in Amazonas state.

A fuel pump is positioned in front of a Public House in the village of Malin in County Donegal, Ireland.
. MALIN, IRELAND. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton

A fuel pump is positioned in front of a Public House in the village of Malin in County Donegal, Ireland.

Cars are fuelled at the Grade II listed BP petrol station designed by Eliot Noyes in the 1960's at Birstall, central England.
. BIRSTALL, UNITED KINGDOM. REUTERS/Darren Staples

Cars are fuelled at the Grade II listed BP petrol station designed by Eliot Noyes in the 1960's at Birstall, central England.

An Elan fuel station is seen in Gimont, southwestern France.
. GIMONT, France. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

An Elan fuel station is seen in Gimont, southwestern France.

Fuel pumps are seen at the Total petrol station on Bautzener Strasse, built in 1925, in Dresden, Germany.
. Dresden, Germany. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

Fuel pumps are seen at the Total petrol station on Bautzener Strasse, built in 1925, in Dresden, Germany.

Fuel barrels are displayed for sale in Aleppo, Syria.
. ALEPPO, Syria. Reuters/Nour Kelze

Fuel barrels are displayed for sale in Aleppo, Syria.

A Palestinian boy fills containers with fuel as he sits on a motorcycle at a petrol station in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, in the Palestinian Territories.
. KHAN YOUNIS, Palestinian Territories. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

A Palestinian boy fills containers with fuel as he sits on a motorcycle at a petrol station in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, in the Palestinian Territories.

A camel rests at a fuel station in the Judean desert near the West Bank city of Jericho, in the Palestinian Territories.
. JERICHO, Palestinian Territories. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

A camel rests at a fuel station in the Judean desert near the West Bank city of Jericho, in the Palestinian Territories.

People fill their tanks at a petrol station in Cairo, Egypt.
. CAIRO, Egypt. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

People fill their tanks at a petrol station in Cairo, Egypt.

A filling station is seen in Bamako, Mali.
. BAMAKO, Mali. REUTERS/Joe Penney

A filling station is seen in Bamako, Mali.

A fuel station outside Almaty is seen against the backdrop of the Tien Shan mountains in Kazakhstan.
. Almaty, KAZAKHSTAN. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

A fuel station outside Almaty is seen against the backdrop of the Tien Shan mountains in Kazakhstan.

A statue of St. George slaying a dragon is seen outside the fuel station in the village of Izveshchatelnyy, south of Stavropol, Russia.
. Stavropol region, Russia. REUTERS/Eduard Korniyenko

A statue of St. George slaying a dragon is seen outside the fuel station in the village of Izveshchatelnyy, south of Stavropol, Russia.

Solar panels are seen at PetroChina's solar-powered Yizhuang gas station in Beijing, China.
. BEIJING, CHINA. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Solar panels are seen at PetroChina's solar-powered Yizhuang gas station in Beijing, China.

An employee of Bharat Petroleum sits next to fuel pump at a fuel station in Mumbai, India.
. MUMBAI, INDIA. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

An employee of Bharat Petroleum sits next to fuel pump at a fuel station in Mumbai, India.

Petrol is seen for sale at a jungle smallholding in Hulu Langat, Malaysia.
. KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA. REUTERS/Olivia Harris

Petrol is seen for sale at a jungle smallholding in Hulu Langat, Malaysia.

A gorilla statue is seen on top of a building in front of a Shell petrol station in Tokyo, Japan.
. TOKYO, Japan. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

A gorilla statue is seen on top of a building in front of a Shell petrol station in Tokyo, Japan.