Formosa Petrochemical announces fuel price hike for next week

Taipei-Formosa Petrochemical Corp. a private fuel supplier, said Saturday that it has decided to raise its gasoline and diesel prices for next week after crude oil prices in the U.S. market hit a two-year high.

Optimism that major producers will extend an output reduction agreement and a fall in inventories in the U.S. market pushed crude prices higher, leading Formosa Petrochemical to raise gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.1 (US$0.0033) per liter next week, effective from 1 a.m. Monday.

This past week, Formosa Petrochemical lowered its gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.3 per liter and cut diesel prices by NT$0.4 per liter.

After the latest adjustments, prices at Formosa Petrochemical gas stations islandwide will rise to NT$23.7 per liter for super diesel, NT$26.2 per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$27.6 per liter for 95 unleaded and NT$29.7 per liter for 98 unleaded, the company said.

Energy traders drove crude prices higher as optimism mounted ahead of a scheduled Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting on Nov. 30 that OPEC and non-OPEC producers will likely extend an agreement on cutting production beyond current March 2018 expiration date.

In addition, a U.S. Energy Information Administration report said on Wednesday that crude oil inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels last week, the first decline in three weeks.

Because of the rising oil prices, Formosa Petrochemical's main competitor, state-owned CPC Corp. Taiwan (??), is expected to announce similar price adjustments for next week at noon on Sunday.

CPC calculates its weekly fuel prices based on a weighted oil price formula made up of 70 percent Dubai crude and 30 percent Brent crude.

As of Thursday, the average price of crude oil was listed on CPC's website at US$61.26 per barrel, up US$0.36 per barrel from the previous week.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel