CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said it would not raise gasoline and diesel prices again this year, despite rising international oil prices, to help keep domestic price levels stable.
The state-owned oil refiner normally adjusts its prices at the pump weekly depending on fluctuations in global crude oil markets.
Had it done the same this week, fuel prices would have reached their highest level since October 2014, the company said.
The company initially announced that it would increase prices by NT$0.5 per liter, even though they should have risen by NT$1.2 per liter based on its standard formula, and it would absorb the difference to help keep commodity prices in check.
However, at about noon, the company backtracked, and said it would cap prices at the current level until the end of this year.
It did not explain the sudden change of heart, other than to say it was worried about the impact of higher fuel prices on inflation.
However, CPC vice president Huang Jen-hung (黃仁弘) denied the move had anything to do with politics.
The decision came about seven weeks ahead of the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 24.
Domestic fuel prices have risen for seven weeks in a row after global crude prices soared 18.57 percent from US$70.61 per barrel on Aug. 20, CPC said.
Huang estimated it will cost the company an estimated NT$300 million (US$9.73 million) to absorb the full brunt of the fuel price hike for the coming week.
However, he said it would be difficult to estimate the cost of to the company of keeping the cap in place to the end of the year, because of the unpredictable nature of global oil prices.
Huang would only say that CPC hopes oil prices will remain stable in the short term to limit its losses.
Investors and analysts are beginning to anticipate the possibility that oil will hit US$100 a barrel during the peak winter demand period — which runs from late this year to early next year — the firm said.
Oil-producing countries and OPEC members see US$70 to US$80 per barrel as an ideal price range and could increase production to keep prices in that range, CPC said.
Privately run Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) yesterday said it would also keep its fuel prices for this week unchanged in line with the government’s policy to help stabilize commodity prices.
However, it would have to evaluate whether it could maintain a price freeze to the end of the year, Formosa executive vice president Lin Keh-yen (林克彥) said.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS