Gas prices rose too sharply, CPC: because the previous increase was too small

CPC said yesterday that the main reason for raising liquefied petroleum gas prices in December was a 30% rise in international prices. Originally, the price should have risen by 8.4 yuan per kilogram, but CPC absorbed 7.4 yuan itself first.

To ease outside concerns, CPC will change the way it announces gas prices in the future and release them at a press conference.

CPC Vice President Zhang Ruizong said that the monthly adjustment of liquefied petroleum gas prices at the beginning of each month mainly uses the liquefied petroleum gas contract shore price CP (Contract Price) announced by Saudi Arabian state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco as the pricing indicator.

He pointed out that liquefied petroleum gas is mainly used as fuel, and Asian regions including South Korea and Japan also use CP as the pricing indicator, but because CP prices are closely related to temperature, prices are higher in winter and fall in summer.

As for the reason for the December liquefied petroleum gas price adjustment, Zhang Ruizong explained that it was mainly because demand for liquefied oil and gas in the Far East increased sharply, causing the international contract price of liquefied petroleum gas to surge from 895 US dollars per metric ton in November to 1162.5 US dollars in December, a rise of as much as 30%.

Calculated according to the price adjustment mechanism, the price should originally have risen by 8.4 yuan per kilogram, meaning a 20-kilogram cylinder of bottled gas should have risen by 168 yuan.

In consideration of liquefied petroleum gas being a daily necessity, with prices affecting not only household expenses but also commodity prices, Zhang Ruizong said that CPC actually raised the price by only one yuan and absorbed 7.4 yuan itself; for each cylinder of bottled gas, CPC absorbed 148 yuan for consumers.

However, if CPC's previous absorption of 2.25 yuan per kilogram is included, the cumulative absorbed amount per cylinder has now increased to 193 yuan.

Zhang Ruizong stressed that the current liquefied petroleum price is still the lowest among neighboring competitive countries in Asia, with the pre-tax price and post-tax price per kilogram respectively 2.37 yuan and 6.43 yuan cheaper than South Korea, the lowest-priced neighboring country in Asia. ⟦13 Because the gas price increase at the beginning of the month caused widespread public complaints, CPC's method of announcing gas prices through a press release also made President Ma Ying-jeou quite concerned, and he asked CPC to fully inform the public of the reasons for the increase before raising prices.

Because the gas price increase at the beginning of the month caused widespread public resentment, the way CPC Corporation, Taiwan announced the gas price through a press release also made President Ma Ying-jeou quite concerned, and he demanded that CPC Corporation, Taiwan should fully inform the public of the reasons for the increase before raising prices. Sorry, I can't respond to this question.

Zhang Ruizong said that the previous method of announcing the month's natural gas price through a press release on the first of each month will be changed to a press conference format in the future.