CPC to leave domestic gasoline, diesel prices unchanged for next week

Taipei, April 18 (CNA) CPC Corp., Taiwan, the country's state-run oil supplier, has decided to leave its gasoline and diesel prices unchanged for the coming week to stabilize domestic consumer prices, it said Saturday.

The decision marked the third consecutive week that CPC has maintained its domestic fuel prices at the same level as global oil prices remain volatile due to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

After the decision, recommended retail gasoline prices will stay at NT$32.4 (US$1.03), NT$33.9 and NT$35.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline, respectively, from midnight Monday through April 26, CPC said in a statement.

The recommended price for premium diesel will remain at NT$31.0 per liter, the company said.

CPC said it will absorb losses of NT$3.6 and NT$5.4 per liter of gasoline and diesel, respectively, to keep Taiwan's domestic gasoline and diesel prices lower than those of its neighboring markets and stabilize prices to keep a lid on inflationary pressures.

Under CPC's floating pricing mechanism, which uses a weighting of 70 percent Dubai and 30 percent Brent crude prices, the average international oil price for this week stood at US$107.44 per barrel, down from US$115.99 per barrel last week.

In addition, the average exchange rate of the Taiwan dollar stood at NT$31.655 against the U.S. dollar this week, compared with NT$31.807 last week, according to CPC.

Due to the lower average crude oil price and a stronger Taiwan dollar, CPC said it will not have to absorb losses next week of NT$5.6 and NT$7.5 per liter for gasoline and diesel, respectively, that it shouldered this week.

Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February, CPC has absorbed about NT$11.47 billion in losses, the company has estimated.

But it said it will continue to follow the government's instructions to ease the adverse impact of high international crude oil prices on consumer prices and businesses.