CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said it would lower gasoline and diesel prices for a second consecutive week by NT$0.5 per liter, effective today.
The price cuts reflect a downward pressure on international crude oil prices due to Libya’s resumption of production at its biggest oil field, Sharara, and market doubts over the effectiveness of output cuts by OPEC, the state-owned refiner said in a statement.
RISING US OUTPUT
Increasing oil production in the US has also depressed prices and threatens to weaken the impact of OPEC’s cuts.
CPC said its average crude oil costs last week fell US$2.04 per barrel from the previous week to US$50.33 per barrel.
Taking into account the New Taiwan dollar’s appreciation of NT$0.199 against the US dollar, CPC said it would cut wholesale prices for diesel and gasoline products by 3.62 percent, which translates into a decrease of NT$0.5 per liter for both gasoline and diesel.
Prices at the pump are to be NT$21.3 per liter for super diesel, NT$23.7 per liter for 92-octane unleaded gasoline, NT$25.2 per liter for 95-octane unleaded gasoline and NT$27.2 per liter for 98-octane unleaded gasoline, CPC said.
SPECULATION
Privately run Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) on Saturday announced similar cuts.
Formosa in a press statement said that market speculation that Russia would likely increase its oil production after an extension of OPEC-led supply cuts affected market sentiment last week.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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