Domestic gasoline, diesel prices to stay steady next week: CPC

Taipei, June 13 (CNA) State-owned oil supplier CPC Corp., Taiwan, announced Saturday that it would leave domestic gasoline and diesel prices unchanged next week in a bid to ease inflationary pressures amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

It was the 11th consecutive week that CPC has maintained domestic gasoline and diesel prices at the same level, even though international crude oil prices are now about 30 percent higher than before the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.

In a statement, CPC said it would recommend that retail prices remain at NT$32.4 (US$1.02), NT$33.9 and NT$35.9 per liter for 92, 95, and 98-octane unleaded gasoline, respectively, from midnight on Monday through June 21.

The recommended price for premium diesel will stay at NT$31.0 per liter during the same period, CPC said.

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$90.12 per barrel this week, down from US$95.71 last week.

But a weakening Taiwan dollar, which averaged NT$31.623 against the U.S. dollar this week, compared with NT$31.440 last week, offset the benefits of the latest crude price decline.

CPC said the decision to leave domestic fuel prices steady will result in the company absorbing a loss of NT$1.2 per liter on sales of diesel, but it will not incur any losses on gasoline sales.

Since the war in the Middle East broke out, CPC estimates it will have absorbed NT$17.63 billion in losses as of Sunday by not reflecting the full increase of international crude oil prices in local fuel prices.

The company said it would continue to follow the government's instructions to stabilize domestic fuel prices to mitigate inflationary pressures on both consumers and businesses.