CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) yesterday announced that they would increase their gasoline and diesel prices for a fourth straight week, effective today.
CPC said that it would raise gasoline prices by NT$0.5 per liter to NT$23.3, NT$24.8 and NT$26.8 for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while the cost of premium diesel would increase by NT$0.5 per liter to NT$20.7.
Based on its floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil last week increased 2.68 percent from a week earlier, which the state-run refiner attributed to optimistic sentiment in the oil market following approval of COVID-19 vaccines in the US and UK.
The news of a Singaporean oil tanker attacked by an external source at the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia earlier last week also helped push up oil prices, CPC said.
Formosa Petrochemical said that investors’ expectation that the US Congress would pass a new COVID-19 stimulus deal, coupled with the reduction of US crude oil inventories, boosted market sentiment last week and resulted in crude prices to continuing their upward trend.
It said that it would increase its prices for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline by NT$0.5 per liter to NT$23.3, NT$24.7 and NT$26.8 respectively.
Premium diesel would increase by NT$0.5 to NT$20.5 per liter, it added.
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