Domestic gasoline and diesel prices are being cut by NT$0.2 per liter, effective today, state-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (Formosa, 台塑石化), the nation’s only publicly traded oil refiner, announced yesterday on their Web sites.
After the price drop, CPC’s price for 98-octane unleaded gasoline is NT$34.5 per liter, 95-octane unleaded gasoline is NT$33 per liter, 92-octane unleaded gasoline is NT$32.3 per liter and diesel is NT$30.1 per liter.
It was CPC’s third price cut since Aug. 9, during which time domestic gasoline and diesel prices have decreased by NT$3.1 per liter and NT$3.4 per liter respectively.
Formosa’s diesel and 98-octane unleaded gasoline prices are NT$0.6 per liter and NT$0.1 per liter higher than CPC’s prices.
International crude oil prices have declined from a high of US$147.27 per barrel on July 11 to around US$120 per barrel.
The Taiwan Research Institute (TRI, 台灣綜合研究院) said prices have now fallen to more reasonable levels.
“Because of the recent appreciation of the US dollar against the New Taiwan dollar and the decreasing number of futures day traders, I expect international crude oil prices to drop to between US$100 per barrel and US$120 per barrel by the end of this year, which will help curb inflation,” Wu Tsai-yi (吳再益), director of a TRI research division, said by telephone yesterday.
In related news, Formosa registered net income of NT$29.56 billion, or NT$3.2 a share, in the first half of this year, compared with NT$28.5 billion, or NT$3.08 a share, a year earlier.
The company reported NT$495.71 billion in revenue in the first half of this year, up from NT$293.85 billion a year earlier.
Formosa’s refining margin, or the difference between oil product prices and crude oil costs, has dropped from a high of US$35 per barrel in the second quarter to US$14 per barrel.
A Polaris Securities Co (寶來證券) analyst, who wished to remain anonymous, said by telephone yesterday that he expected the company’s gross profit margin to decline this quarter.
The analyst predicted Formosa’s earnings per share (EPS) would remain at around NT$3 in the second half of this year, making the company’s full-year EPS approximately NT$6, lower than last year’s NT$7.53.
Formosa shares rose NT$1.8, or 2.34 percent, to close at NT$78.8 yesterday.
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