State-run Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油) announced plans yesterday to raise the wholesale price of unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel by NT$0.30 and NT$0.20 per liter, respectively, to reflect soaring international oil prices.
Individual gas stations may or may not follow the price increase.
The price hike -- about 1.61 percent on average for various fuel products -- went into effect at midnight last night, said the nation's largest producer of petroleum products.
The prices of unleaded 95 octane and 98 octane gasoline will each be NT$20.1 and NT$21.4 a liter.
Less than two hours after Chinese Petroleum announced the oil price hikes yesterday, rival Formosa Petrochemical Co (
Concerns over political stability in Venezuela, a major oil producer, and the threat of a US invasion of Iraq are behind Chinese Petroleum's price fluctuation, a Chinese Petroleum official said at a press conference yesterday.
"Those factors have boosted international prices of crude oil by nearly US$5 to US$6 per barrel recently," said Lin Sheng-pi (林勝比), vice executive director of marketing.
"Take the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil as an example. It has climbed to US$32.5 per barrel from US$27.45 per barrel since late October," he added.
With international oil prices hovering around US$32 a barrel in recent days, there's room for the company to raise prices again in the near future, Lin said.
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