Domestic gasoline prices are this week to increase NT$0.1 per liter, but diesel prices are to remain unchanged, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced separately yesterday.
Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC stations are to rise to NT$22.5, NT$24.0 and NT$26.0 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to remain at NT$19.8 per liter, the state-run refiner said in a statement.
Formosa said that its prices for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline would increase to NT$22.5, NT$23.9 and NT$26.0 per liter respectively, while premium diesel would stay at NT$19.6 per liter.
CPC said that based on its floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil last week increased 0.68 percent from a week earlier.
The increase was a result of international oil prices rising due to a rebound in global demand, Iraq’s willingness to increase the scope of its output cuts and a decline in US commercial crude oil inventories for the third consecutive week, it said.
That would have resulted in CPC hiking gasoline prices by NT$0.6 per liter and diesel prices by NT$0.8 per liter, but to comply with a government policy of keeping domestic fuel prices the lowest in Asia, CPC said that it had to absorb most of the cost increases and raise gasoline prices by just NT$0.1 per liter.
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