Formosa Petrochemical announces fuel price hike for next week

Formosa Petrochemical Corp. (????), a privately owned fuel supplier, said Saturday that it will raise its domestic gasoline and diesel prices next week as the global oil market continued to strengthen this week.

An agreement reached by the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut output and a fall in U.S. oil stocks eased worries over a supply glut, prompting Formosa Petrochemical to hike domestic fuel prices.

Starting from 1 a.m. Monday, domestic gasoline and diesel prices at Formosa Petrochemical gas stations will rise by NT$1.1 (US$0.035) per liter and NT$1.2 per liter, respectively.

International oil prices continued to move higher this week after OPEC members reached a preliminary consensus on Sept. 28 to cut their daily production to a range of between 32.5 million and 33 million barrels from 33.4 million barrels at present.

An unexpected drop of U.S. oil inventories by 3 million barrels in the week ending Sept. 30 gave an additional boost to crude oil prices.

After the adjustment, fuel prices at Formosa Petrochemical gas stations islandwide will rise to NT$21.1 per liter for super diesel, NT$23.7 per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$25.2 per liter for 95 unleaded and NT$27.5 per liter for 98 unleaded.

The company's major competitor, state-owned CPC Corp., Taiwan (??), is expected to announce similar price adjustments at noon Sunday that will take effect at midnight the same day.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel