Fair Trade Commission to probe CPC’s crude oil costs

Commission officials said that they will report on the results of the investigation to the Legislative Yuan in December. Whether the level of recent petroleum price hikes is reasonable will be known by then, they added.

The officials made the remarks at meeting of the Economics and Energy Committee of the Legislative Yuan during which the commission reviewed the budget of the FTC and passed a resolution requesting that the commission immediately conduct a probe into the CPC’s oil purchase costs.

Legislator Wang Tu-fa of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party said that the CPC has raised petroleum prices repeatedly over the past year based on the company’s calculations that its crude oil purchase costs have accounted for 80 percent of its operating costs.

Wang claimed that the ratio should only be a little more than 60 percent judging from the CPC’s financial statements. If the costs of phasing out old equipment are factored in, then the ratio is less than 60 percent, he said.

Noting that excessive price hikes go against the public’s interests, Wang urged the commission to look into the discrepancy between his calculations and those of the CPC.

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