Staff writer, with CNA
CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) have decided to leave domestic gasoline and diesel prices unchanged this week, although international crude oil prices continue to rise due to ongoing tensions in the Middle East.CPC and Formosa have ensured that domestic gasoline and diesel prices maintain the same levels for the seventh consecutive week to keep a lid on inflation and, to comply with the government’s pricing mechanism, keep fuel prices lower than in neighboring markets.Retail gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations remain at NT$32.4, NT$33.9 and NT$35.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline, respectively, the companies said.
Prices for premium diesel are to stay at NT$31.0 per liter at CPC stations and NT$30.8 at Formosa pumps, they said.At those prices, CPC said it would lose NT$3.3 per liter on its gasoline sales and NT$5.0 per liter on its diesel sales this week.
However, a stronger Taiwan dollar helped reduce to some extent the financial burden caused by higher crude prices, the state-run company said.Under CPC’s floating price mechanism, which is based on a weighting of 70 percent Dubai crude and 30 percent Brent crude, the average international oil price rose to US$106.26 per barrel last week, up from US$102.97 in the previous week.Since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran at the end of February, the company has absorbed an estimated NT$14.82 billion in losses, CPC said.
