CPC to leave gasoline, diesel prices unchanged for 8th straight week

Taipei, May 23 (CNA) State-owned oil company CPC Corp., Taiwan announced on Saturday that it will leave domestic gasoline and diesel prices unchanged next week.

The company said it has decided to keep gasoline and diesel prices stable despite international crude oil prices continuing to rise amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

The pricing structure will be in effect from midnight Monday through May 31, the CPC said, marking the eighth consecutive week that the company will maintain domestic gasoline and diesel prices at the same levels to keep a lid on inflation and to comply with the government's pricing mechanism while considering the fuel prices and subsidies of neighboring markets.

In a statement Saturday, CPC said it would recommend that retail prices remain 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.

The recommended retail price for premium diesel will stay at NT$31 per liter, CPC said.

At those prices, CPC said it would lose NT$3.6 per liter on its gasoline sales and NT$5.4 per liter on its diesel sales next week, higher than what it absorbed this week because of continued increases in crude oil prices.

Under CPC's floating price mechanism, which is based on a weighting of 70 percent Dubai crude and 30 percent Brent crude, the company estimated it will have absorbed NT$15.67 billion in losses as of Sunday.