State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said it would raise domestic gasoline prices by NT$0.5 per liter and diesel prices by NT$0.6 per liter, starting today, to reflect the recent rebound in global crude oil prices.
This is the second week in a row that CPC has hiked gasoline prices, a rare trend in the past eight months amid a price war between the major oil-producing countries.
The price increase fell in line with the latest change in international crude prices, CPC officials said.
CPC adjusts domestic fuel prices every week based on its floating oil price mechanism — which is a composite made up of 70 percent of the Dubai crude and 30 percent of the Brent crude benchmarks. The company said that according to its pricing formula, prices rose to US$55.65 per barrel last week, up US$2.41 from US$53.24 per barrel the previous week.
After factoring in the New Taiwan dollar’s appreciation of NT$0.015 against the US dollar, the company is to raise gasoline and diesel prices by 3.58 percent to reflect increasing costs, CPC said.
Under its latest price adjustments, prices at the pump are set to be NT$22.5 per liter for premium diesel, NT$24.5 per liter for 92-octane unleaded gasoline, NT$26 per liter for 95-octane unleaded gasoline and NT$28.0 per liter for 98-octane unleaded gasoline.
CPC used to freeze gasoline and diesel prices over the Lunar New Year holiday to avoid displeasing the public, but the company yesterday said it had decided to follow the floating pricing formula this year.
Global oil prices have slumped more than 50 percent since June last year amid a global supply glut and growing oil reserves in the US, with analysts expecting further drops to prices in the absence of a moderation mechanism.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), the nation’s only private oil refiner, yesterday evening said that it would raise gasoline and diesel prices at the same pace.
In a press statement Formosa attributed the price hikes to lower US crude inventory, lower crude investment by some firms and a stronger economic showing by Germany.
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