TAIPEI: State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC) said it would lower gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter as global crude prices fell on speculation that Saudi Arabia planned to increase crude output amid a global glut.
That means a 1.27 percent drop from last week’s prices after factoring in the New Taiwan dollar’s depreciation of NT$0.97 against the US dollar, CPC said in a statement posted on its Web site.
The weakness of the New Taiwan dollar increased the company’s crude import costs.
Global crude oil prices slid 1.55 percent, or US$0.97, to US$61.70 per barrel last week, compared with US$62.67 the previous week, according to CPC’s pricing information.
CPC attributed the decline to the lack of progress in Greece’s debt talks with the EU and IMF, which led to concern about uncertainty in global economic growth and possible lower crude consumption.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp, the nation’s only private oil refiner, said it would trim its gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter as of today.