Gasoline prices are to remain unchanged this week, despite an increase in global crude oil prices last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday.
Gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to stay at NT$27.1, NT$28.6 and NT$30.6 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements.
However, the price of premium diesel is to drop NT$0.2 per liter to NT$25.5 per liter at CPC stations and NT$25.3 at Formosa pumps, they said.
The companies’ announcements came after international crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as disruptions to Russian oil exports outweigh oversupply concerns in the global market.
Lukoil PJSC declaring force majeure at its West Qurna 2 field in Iraq showed signs that US sanctions are starting to have an impact on Russian oil exports, although the US Energy Information Administration reiterated that it expects a surplus of about 4 million barrels per day next year, the companies said.
Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — last week rose 1.19 percent to settle at US$64.39 per barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange, while West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures — the US oil gauge — gained 0.57 percent to close at US$60.09 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
The demise of the coal industry left the US’ Appalachian region in tatters, with lost jobs, spoiled water and countless kilometers of abandoned underground mines. Now entrepreneurs are eyeing the rural region with ambitious visions to rebuild its economy by converting old mines into solar power systems and data centers that could help fuel the increasing power demands of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. One such project is underway by a non-profit team calling itself Energy DELTA (Discovery, Education, Learning and Technology Accelerator) Lab, which is looking to develop energy sources on about 26,305 hectares of old coal land in
Netflix on Friday faced fierce criticism over its blockbuster deal to acquire Warner Bros Discovery. The streaming giant is already viewed as a pariah in some Hollywood circles, largely due to its reluctance to release content in theaters and its disruption of traditional industry practices. As Netflix emerged as the likely winning bidder for Warner Bros — the studio behind Casablanca, the Harry Potter movies and Friends — Hollywood’s elite launched an aggressive campaign against the acquisition. Titanic director James Cameron called the buyout a “disaster,” while a group of prominent producers are lobbying US Congress to oppose the deal,
Two Chinese chipmakers are attracting strong retail investor demand, buoyed by industry peer Moore Threads Technology Co’s (摩爾線程) stellar debut. The retail portion of MetaX Integrated Circuits (Shanghai) Co’s (上海沐曦) upcoming initial public offering (IPO) was 2,986 times oversubscribed on Friday, according to a filing. Meanwhile, Beijing Onmicro Electronics Co (北京昂瑞微), which makes radio frequency chips, was 2,899 times oversubscribed on Friday, its filing showed. The bids coincided with Moore Threads’ trading debut, which surged 425 percent on Friday after raising 8 billion yuan (US$1.13 billion) on bets that the company could emerge as a viable local competitor to Nvidia