BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) -- China's top economic
planner announced Thursday night the country will raise the prices of gasoline,
diesel oil, aviation kerosene and electricity, revealing an unprecedented broad
plan to raise energy prices.
Beginning Friday, the benchmark
gasoline and diesel oil retail prices will be marked up by 1,000 yuan (144.9
U.S. dollars) per tonne, with the price of aviation kerosene up by 1,500 yuan
per tonne.
A driver looks at the price of refined
oil at a gas station in Qingdao, a city in east China's Shandong Province,
on the early morning of June 20, 2008. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng) Photo
Gallery>>>
The prices of natural gas and liquefied petroleum
gas, however, would be left unchanged, according to the National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC).
The benchmark retail prices of gasoline and diesel
oil would be lifted to 6,980 yuan and 6,520 yuan per tonne, up more than 16
percent and 18 percent respectively.
The price rises also translate into mark-ups of 0.8
yuan and 0.92 yuan per liter, the measurement used at service stations in China,
for gasoline and diesel oil respectively.
The commission said the oil price adjustment was made
to ensure supplies in the country by diminishing the gap between continuously
rising international crude prices, especially since February, and state-set
domestic oil prices.
Crude oil price on the international market reached
above 136 U.S. dollars per barrel on Wednesday, up more than 45 percent from the
price when the country raised oil prices in November last year.
An employee changes the cards showing
the prices of refined oil at a gas station in Beijing on the early morning
of June 20, 2008.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
The government-controlled oil prices on domestic
market should be blamed for a shortfall of supplies, as some refineries stopped
or cut back on processing to avoid losses, said an unidentified NDRC official.
The commission said more subsidies would be offered
to farmers, public transport, low-income families and taxi drivers to cushion
the crunch of price rises.
For instance, farmers would get five yuan per mu
(1/15 hectare)of farmland in extra subsidy; low-income families in cities would
get an extra 15 yuan for each person every month starting from July, 10 yuan for
such rural families.
The commission said fares for passenger travel by
rail, urban and rural public transport and taxis would remain unchanged after
the rise.
The official did not comment on the impact of oil
price rises on the inflation rate, which eased to 7.7 percent in May. In April,
it rose 8.5 percent after a 12-year high of 8.7 percent in February.
The commission also said the average electricity
tariff will be raised by 2.5 cents per kwh starting from July 1, up 4.7 percent
on average.
It said the price rise was made in response to rising
costs of the country's power plants, including rising power-coal prices,
increased costs on desulphuration facilities and investment in grid upgrading.
More than 80 percent of all the power generation
companies suffered losses in the January-May period due to power-coal price
rises.
Official statistics showed that power coal prices
went up by more than 80 yuan per tonne in the past two years. The prices had
gone up by 60 yuan since the beginning of the year.
The commission also announced the country would
exercise temporary price intervention on power coal as of Dec. 31, and power
coal prices are capped below the price on June 19.
The policy was adopted as the commission expected the
power-coal price to rise further because of the gap between domestic and
international prices and tight supplies.
The commission also said urban and rural residents
and sectors of farming and fertilizer production, as well as the quake-hit
provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu, will be exempt from the price rise.
Industrial and commercial undertakings, however,
would only see limited impact, as power expenses usually account for a small
portion of their total costs, it said.
"The price rise in electricity would not have a
fundamental impact on the country's inflation rate," said the NDRC official.
BEIJING, June 16 -- Finance ministers from the Group of
Eight nations said surging food and fuel prices have replaced the credit squeeze
as the biggest threat to the world economy.
"The predominant concern is the inflationary effect that
oil in particular and also food prices are having," UK Chancellor of the
Exchequer Alistair Darling said on Saturday after G-8 officials ended talks in
Osaka. Deputy German Finance Minister Thomas Mirow said oil's rise to a record
means "an enormous withdrawal of purchasing power."
VIENNA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) released Friday its monthly report and pointed out
that the supply and demand in the oil market was in balance.
However, since 2003, the oil prices have risen over four
times higher. Alone in 2008, the prices have risen 40 percent. It even topped a
historic high of 130.87 U. S. dollars per barrel on June 9.
BEIJING, June 13 (Xinhua) -- PetroChina and Sinopec,
China's two leading oil producers, on Friday revealed plans to increase the
production and import of refined oil products in June, to ensure supply for
wheat reaping and quake relief efforts.
PetroChina said it would keep its operation at full steam
this month to jack up its oil processing by 6 percent over last month. The oil
group would also import 600,000 tons of oil products.
