State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday announced that it would lower gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.8 and NT$0.9 per liter respectively from today.
After the adjustments, CPC’s fuel prices are at the lowest levels since Jan. 3, 2009.
CPC said that international oil prices plummeted last week after the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast an excessive supply of global crude oil would continue to weigh on market sentiment late into next year.
China’s sluggish performance in exports and imports last month, as well as failure to reach a consensus to cut high output levels at an OPEC meeting last week, also dragged down world oil prices, the company said.
Under CPC’s pricing mechanism, its average crude oil costs last week dropped US$3.56 per barrel, from US$40.63 per barrel to US$37.07.
After factoring in a NT$0.136 depreciation against the US dollar, CPC said it decided to cut domestic fuel prices by 6.71 percent, or a decrease of NT$0.8 per liter for gasoline and NT$0.9 per liter for diesel.
On Saturday, the nation’s only private oil refiner, Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), said it would yesterday cut its gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.8 and NT$0.9 per liter respectively.
After price adjustments, Formosa’s 98-octane unleaded gasoline fell to NT$24.5 per liter, which is NT$0.2 higher than CPC’s equivalent product, while the rest of the private oil refiner’s fuel products are still less than CPC’s, company data show.
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