The government is considering measures to break Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp's (台塑石化) dominance of the nation's fuel market, according to an official.
The government may cut tariffs on oil products and lower required stockpiles for fuel suppliers to create incentives for companies to import fuels, Wang Yunn-ming (王運銘), deputy director-general of the Bureau of Energy, said yesterday.
These moves may lower costs and encourage international oil companies, such as Exxon Mobil Corp, to import petroleum products into Taiwan, breaking the dominance of Formosa Petrochemical and state-run Chinese Petroleum, the nation's only oil refiners.
"We hope there'll be importers to compete with the two refiners," Wang said. "We're considering whether to lower barriers for importers."
Taiwan currently requires fuel importers to have a minimum stockpile of 50,000 kiloliters and imposes a 10 percent import duty on gasoline, according to a report by the bureau.
Chinese Petroleum controls about 70 percent of Taiwan's gasoline and diesel market, while Formosa Petrochemical has the rest.
Esso Petroleum Taiwan Inc, a local venture of Exxon Mobil, was granted permits to import gasoline and diesel fuel to Taiwan in February 2002. It exited the market in September 2003, according to the report.
RSS