CPC announces hikes in gasoline, fuel prices

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on April 19, 2006. It reports that the Chinese Petroleum Corporation recently announced that it would raise its petroleum product prices by about 8 percent, as crude oil prices were setting new record highs in world markets.

According to the company, the price per liter of all grades of gasoline will rise by NT$2, while fuel oil will go up by NT$740 per kiloliter. Cooking gas will increase by NT$1.41 per kilogram. The move came shortly after the government announced that it would fully respect the decision by the state-owned Chinese Petroleum Corporation to adjust its prices based on changing global market conditions.

Crude oil prices reached a new high of US$70.88 a barrel recently, as persistent concerns about Iran's nuclear program and supply disruptions in Nigeria overshadowed a new OPEC report that predicted weakening global demand.

While crude prices have soared over the past seven months, prices at the pump in Taiwan have remained relatively unchanged, because the Chinese Petroleum Corporation has been cooperating with the government in order to limit the financial burden on local consumers. The result is that the company has suffered a loss of NT$13.8 billion in the first quarter of 2006. It is expected that the company will lose more than NT$50 billion in 2006 if it does not raise the price of its products.