State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said it is to raise gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.2 per liter from today to reflect the increasing prices of international crude oil over the past week.
CPC on Wednesday said that the global crude oil prices saw a significant surge at the start of last week, mainly affected by an oil workers’ strike in Brazil and disrupted oil production in Libya that led to supply constraints.
International oil prices dropped in the week due to the continuing rise in US crude inventories that bore down the market, the refiner said in a statement.
Photo: CNA
CPC said the strong US dollar also dragged oil prices down in the global market.
However, it said the scale of decline was not enough to offset the boost in fuel prices.
Under CPC’s pricing mechanism, the company’s average crude oil costs last week rose US$1.07 per barrel to US$45.85 from the previous week’s US$44.78 per barrel, the company said.
After factoring the New Taiwan dollar’s appreciation of NT$0.068 against the US dollar, CPC said that it decided to raise domestic fuel prices by 1.74 percent, or an increase of NT$0.2 per liter for both gasoline and diesel products.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), the nation’s only private oil refiner, said it would raise its gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.2 per liter from today.
After the price adjustments, Formosa’s 98-octane unleaded gasoline is to be NT$26.5 per liter, which is NT$0.2 more expensive than CPC’s equivalent product, according to the company’s data.
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