Taipei:Despite an increase in international crude oil prices, CPC Corp., Taiwan's state-owned oil supplier, announced on Saturday that it will maintain its domestic gasoline and diesel prices unchanged next week. This decision aims to alleviate inflationary pressures.

According to Focus Taiwan, CPC Corp. stated that the retail prices for 92-, 95-, and 98-octane unleaded gasoline will remain at NT$31.2 (US$0.96), NT$32.7, and NT$34.7 per liter, respectively, from midnight Sunday through November 1. Additionally, the price of premium diesel will stay at NT$29.9 per liter during the same period.

This marks the sixth consecutive week that CPC has kept its domestic fuel prices stable, in line with the government's price stabilization policies. These measures are intended to ease inflation and enhance Taiwan's competitive edge by keeping fuel prices lower than those in neighboring markets.

The decision comes despite Brent futures reaching their highest level since late April due to Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia, raising concerns about oil supply disruptions. CPC's floating fuel price mechanism, which is based on a weighted average of 70 percent Dubai crude and 30 percent Brent crude, showed that the average international crude oil price rose from US$113.77 per barrel last week to US$114.83 per barrel this week.

The weakening Taiwan dollar, averaging NT$32.515 against the U.S. dollar this week compared to NT$32.131 last week, has further increased the financial burden on CPC for overseas crude oil purchases. As a result of the decision to maintain steady fuel prices, CPC anticipates absorbing losses of NT$7.5 per liter on gasoline sales and NT$9.3 per liter on diesel sales next week.

CPC estimates that by Sunday, it will have absorbed a total of NT$30.37 billion in losses since the tensions in the Middle East began at the end of February, as it has not fully passed on the higher crude oil costs to consumers.