CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) on Saturday announced that it would leave domestic gasoline and diesel prices unchanged this week, with Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) yesterday saying it would do the same.It is the fifth consecutive week that CPC and Formosa have kept domestic crude oil prices steady under the government’s price stabilization measures.Retail gasoline prices this week remain at NT$30.5, NT$32 and NT$34 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively at CPC and Formosa stations.
Prices of premium diesel would stay at NT$29.3 per liter at CPC stations and NT$29.1 per liter at Formosa pumps, they said.International crude oil prices last week ended lower despite apparent stalling in diplomatic efforts to end the war between the US and Iran, and a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz remaining uncertain.
CPC said its floating price mechanism, based on a weighted average of 70 percent Dubai and 30 percent Brent crude, showed that the average international crude oil price fell to US$91.56 last week from US$93.01 per barrel in the week before.Additionally, a stronger New Taiwan dollar against the US dollar reduced purchasing costs, it said.CPC said that as of yesterday, it has absorbed an estimated NT$18.03 billion (US$570.06 million) in losses since the war in the Middle East started in February, by not fully passing on higher international crude oil costs on to consumers and businesses to ease domestic inflationary pressure.
