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Oil sales drop 2% as more people opt for public transport

Oil sales have declined over the past year as more people are take the public transport and leave their private vehicles at home, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said on Saturday.

The trend is probably a result of the soaring oil prices, DGBAS officials said.

Gasoline and diesel sales totaled 13.85 million kiloliters last year, down 2.2 percent from the previous year, the officials said, citing tallies from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

For January, gasoline and diesel sales decreased 7 percent year-on-year to 1.16 million kiloliters, with gasoline sales dropping 7.9 percent to 819,000 kiloliters and diesel sales falling 4.6 percent to 344,000 kiloliters.

MORE GAS STATIONS

As of the end of January there were a total of 2,606 filling stations countrywide, up 27 stations from the same time last year.

Citing Ministry of Transportation and Communications tallies, the officials said that passenger traffic on the Taipei metro system had increased 7.4 percent year-on-year to 36 million people in January.

Passenger traffic on the high-speed rail rose 68.6 percent year-on-year to 2 million during the same month.

The number of small cars traveling on freeways dropped 1.3 percent year-on-year to 38 million in January, the officials said.

NO PRICE HIKE

In related news, state-owned Chinese Petroleum Corp Taiwan (CPC Taiwan, 中油) said in a press release on Saturday that it would not raise fuel prices this month.

Prices will remain at their current level as part of government efforts to keep commodity prices stable, it said.

The prices for the company's gasoline and diesel should rise by 12.6 percent, or NT$2.4 and NT$2.7 per liter respectively, under a formula used by the company to price its products based on international crude oil prices, the statement said.

Since last September the government has pegged domestic oil prices to international prices, while setting limits on its fluctuation.

Without the restrictions, based on international prices, domestic oil prices would have risen 26.13 percent since last September, CPC Taiwan said.
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