State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (中油), and private rival Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) yesterday said they would both raise gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.4 and NT$0.5 per liter respectively as global crude oil price rose amid supply fear due to labor disputes in oil-rich Libya and an ongoing oil embargo on Iran.
This marks the third week of price hikes announced by CPC and brought domestic fuel prices to their highest level in about three months, according to the pricing information posted on CPC’s Web site.
Global crude price jumped more than 2 percent, or US$2.16 per barrel, to US$109.24 per barrel last week, from US$107.08 per barrel a week before based on CPC’s pricing scheme, the company said in a statement.
“The market is worried that the labor row in Libya could deter the country from exporting crude oil during the winter, which is the peak season for energy consumption,” CPC said in the statement.
In a separate statement, CPC said yesterday that it would raise prices for liquified petroleum gas (LPG) by NT$1 per kilogram for household and industrial use after a monthly review.
That would bring the price of LPG to a record high of NT$1,022 per cylinder this month, up from the previous high of NT$1,002 per cylinder sold in the northern part of Taiwan, based on information from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
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