Domestic fuel prices are to rise this week for a third straight week to their highest levels since December 2014, state-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) announced yesterday.
CPC said that sentiment in global crude oil market last week remained cautious about the drop in production following a weeks-long disruption to the North Sea’s Forties Pipeline System, in addition to an explosion on a pipeline in Libya due to what was described as a “terrorist attack,” which reduced its output by an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 barrels per day.
The refiner said that its average cost of crude oil increased by US$2.01 per barrel to US$64.46.
This allowed it to raise gasoline prices by NT$0.3 and diesel prices by NT$0.4 per liter from today after factoring in the New Taiwan dollar’s appreciation of NT$0.08 against the US dollar, CPC said.
Similar hikes announced by Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) on Saturday are also to take effect today.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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