Taiwan's CPC to leave domestic gasoline, diesel prices steady next week

Taipei, May 30 (CNA) State-owned oil company CPC Corp., Taiwan, has decided to leave domestic gasoline and diesel prices unchanged next week, to ease the impact on local consumer prices amid the continuing conflicts in the Middle East.

It was the ninth consecutive week that CPC has maintained domestic gasoline and diesel prices at the same level to encounter rising inflationary pressure under the government's pricing mechanism to keep fuel prices lower than in neighboring markets such as Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

In a statement released on 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, from midnight on Monday through June 7.

CPC added that the recommended price for premium diesel will stay at NT$31.0 per liter during the same period.

The decision is expected to let CPC absorb NT$1.8 per liter in losses for gasoline sales and NT$3.3 per liter in losses for diesel sales next week, but the losses will be smaller than what it absorbed this week due to lower international crude oil prices and a stronger Taiwan dollar.

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 fell to US$99.36 per barrel this week, down from US$107.56 last week.

Meanwhile, the average exchange rate for the Taiwan dollar against the U.S. dollar stood at NT$31.431 this week, compared with NT$31.600 last week, according to CPC.

Since the U.S.-Israel war against Iran broke out on Feb. 28, CPC estimated it would have absorbed NT$16.66 billion in losses as of Sunday, according to its estimates.

However, it emphasized that it will continue to follow the government's instructions to stabilize fuel prices in a bid to mitigate pressure not only for consumers but also for the business sector.