CPC chairman says he will take flak for fuel row

State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) chairman Pan Wenent (潘文炎) said yesterday that he would shoulder the responsibility if the Cabinet found his oil company negligent for allegedly not preventing the sale of gasoline mixed with methyl alcohol at a Taipei gas station.

"Upon completion of the investigation, I will take responsibility for company policy if the Cabinet rules that we have been negligent," Pan said in response to media reports that the Cabinet may ask him to step down.

Two weeks ago, following customer complaints that the gasoline was substandard, CPC took gasoline samples at the Heng Chia Gas Station on Wanfang Rd in Taipei and sent them for laboratory tests.

The results showed that the gasoline contained 10 percent methyl alcohol.

On Friday, prosecutors questioned the owners of the Heng Chia Gas Station on Wanfang Rd in Taipei, who denied pumping methyl alcohol into the station's gasoline tanks to cut costs and accused CPC of providing sub-standard gasoline.

Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Ching-jun (陳景峻) yesterday denied that the Cabinet was considering asking Pan to step down.

Chen said the Ministry of Economic Affairs would need to decide whether CPC had been negligent before it punished anyone.

However, Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) expressed dissatisfaction with CPC's handling of the matter.

"Anyone found to have been negligent will soon be punished," he said.

The ministry set up a task force last week to look into the matter and is expected to come up with a ruling and, if necessary, punishments within a week.

Steve Chen wouldn't say directly whether the government would seek to topple the state-run oil company's chairman, but said "the ministry will always act impartially."

He said that his ministry had instructed CPC to come up with a sound mechanism to ensure it sells only high-quality gasoline.