CPC Announces Unchanged Domestic Fuel Prices Amidst Rising Crude Oil Costs

Taipei: State-owned oil supplier CPC Corp., Taiwan announced on Saturday that it will maintain domestic gasoline and diesel prices unchanged for the upcoming week. This decision marks the third consecutive week that CPC has opted to keep fuel prices steady, despite an increase in crude oil prices and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz. According to Focus Taiwan, CPC's statement confirmed that retail prices will remain at NT$30.5 (US$0.94), NT$32.0, and NT$34.0 per liter for 92, 95, and 98-octane unleaded gasoline, respectively, from midnight Monday through August 23. Additionally, the retail price of premium diesel will remain at NT$29.3 per liter during the same period. CPC's pricing strategy is based on a floating price mechanism that takes into account a weighted average of 70 percent Dubai and 30 percent Brent crude. This week, the average international crude oil price rose from US$82.20 per barrel last week to US$89.84. The lack of progress toward a peace agreement between the United States and Iran has further influenced these figures. The company also noted that a weaker U.S. dollar, which averaged NT$32.194 against the Taiwan dollar this week compared to NT$32.350 last week, provided some offset to the rising crude oil prices. Despite this, CPC anticipates incurring losses of NT$2.2 per liter on gasoline sales and NT$3.5 per liter on diesel sales next week. CPC estimates that by Sunday, it will have absorbed NT$16.6 billion in losses since the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East. This loss absorption is part of the government's price stabilization measures aimed at mitigating domestic inflationary pressures by not fully passing on the increased international crude oil costs to consumers and businesses.