Prices at pumps to rise amid Mideast tensionsStaff writer, with CNACPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) yesterday announced that gasoline and diesel prices would rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter respectively starting today, citing Middle East tensions and winter storms in the eastern US. Premium diesel would be NT$27 per liter at CPC stations and NT$26.8 per liter at Formosa pumps, they said. Separately, CPC on Saturday said it would raise the price of natural gas by 3 percent on average this month in the wake of a hike in international liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices. International LNG prices have been rising sharply due to robust global demand caused by freezing temperatures in Europe, the US and northeast Asia, it said. Europe’s natural gas inventories are relatively low, and as European and Asian countries scramble to rebuild their surplus, LNG prices rise, CPC said.
