State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said it would raise gasoline prices today by NT$0.8 per liter and diesel prices by NT$0.9 per liter to reflect an increase in global energy costs.
The announcement marks the third straight week the firm is to hike oil prices as global crude oil prices picked up further last week, driven by a decline in the number of active oil rigs and natural gas rigs in the US.
International oil refiners also cut their capital expenditures for the year.
CPC adjusts domestic oil prices every week in accordance with its floating oil price formula — which is a composite made up of 70 percent Dubai crude and 30 percent Brent crude oil.
Based on the weighed oil pricing mechanism, oil prices rose to US$59.12 per barrel last week, up 6.23 percent from the previous week’s US$55.65 per barrel, CPC said.
After factoring in the New Taiwan dollar’s depreciation of NT$0.073 against the US dollar, CPC said it would raise gasoline and diesel prices by 5.18 percent to reflect the rising costs.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), the nation’s only privately owned oil refiner, said it would also raise prices on both gasoline and diesel today by NT$0.8 per liter and NT$0.9 per liter respectively.
Formosa Petrochemical attributed the price increases to the uncertain political situations in the Middle East and the declining number of active US oil rigs.
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