State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 中油) yesterday said it would cut prices of gasoline by NT$0.2 per liter and diesel by NT$0.3 per liter from today to reflect declining global crude oil prices last week.
The increase in crude inventory in the US and the strong US dollar depressed global prices of crude last week, CPC said in a statement.
The oil refiner said market sentiment was soft last week, as traders were expecting a boost to crude oil supplies from Iran following a US-brokered agreement over Theran’s nuclear capabilities. Crude also declined last week as weak manufacturing data in Asia raised fresh worries about demand from the region.
Based on CPC’s floating oil price mechanism, the company’s costs fell to US$55.42 per barrel last week from US$56.66 per barrel the previous week.
Factoring in the New Taiwan dollar’s depreciation of NT$0.138 against the US dollar last week, CPC said the company would cut its prices by 1.41 percent for this week.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), Taiwan’s only private oil refiner, yesterday said it is to cut prices for gasoline and diesel products by NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively starting today, matching the cuts of CPC.
According to Formosa’s price adjustments, its 98-octane unleaded gasoline is NT$28.2 per liter, which is NT$0.2 more expensive than CPC’s equivalent product.
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