CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said it has no plan to stop the sale of 92-octane unleaded gasoline, rejecting local media speculation of such a move to counter air pollution.
“Domestic supplies of 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline are subject to market demand, and the 92-grade is still used by a certain portion of consumers,” CPC vice president Ann Bih (畢淑蒨) said in a statement posted on the company’s Web site.
SALES BREAKDOWN
Based on the state-run refiner’s statistics, the breakdown for unleaded gasoline products in Taiwan shows that 92-octane unleaded accounts for 20 percent of sales, 95-octane unleaded for 75 percent, and 98-octane unleaded for 5 percent, CPC said.
CPC guarantees it would continue providing a sufficient supply of the above-mentioned gasoline products, the statement said.
The company’s remarks came after the Chinese-language Commercial Times yesterday reported that CPC recently conducted an evaluation regarding whether to suspend the sale of 92-octane unleaded gasoline, in light of the worsening air pollution and the government’s plans to ban sales of motorcycles and cars with engines powered by fossil fuels in 2035 and 2040 respectively.
As the 92-octane product is less desirable than its 95 and 98 peers from an engine efficiency standpoint, CPC might consider stocking only the latter two at stations, the newspaper said.
POTENTIAL IMPACT
However, since 92-octane unleaded gasoline is mostly used by motorcycles and scooters, whose owners are mainly students and workers, and its price is NT$1.5 less than the 95-octane fuel per liter, CPC will need more time to consider the potential impact on this segment of consumers and might not implement the policy soon, the report said.
Moreover, any decision to stop the sale of 92-octane unleaded gasoline would need approval from the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Energy, the newspaper said.
FUEL PRICES
Separately, CPC yesterday announced domestic fuel prices are to rise this week for a fourth straight week, as sentiment in the global crude oil market last week remained cautious about the political situation in Iran and US crude oil inventories continued to decrease.
CPC said that its average cost of crude oil increased by US$1.26 per barrel to US$65.72.
This meant it had to increase gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.2 per liter from today after factoring in the New Taiwan dollar’s appreciation of NT$0.323 against the US dollar, the refiner said.
Global crude prices also rose due to the increased fuel demand in the US amid cold weather, said Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), which on Saturday announced similar hikes, effective from today.
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