Last week, international oil prices soared to a 10-month high of
US$73 a barrel, making China's processed oil price further below
that on the international market.
The National Development and Reform Commission now faces
unprecedented pressure to lift the price of processed oil, but it
fears that it will push up China's CPI (Consumer Price Index),
which has been standing high for the last few months.
It was said that China's two major oil suppliers, China National
Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China Petroleum and Chemical
Corporation (Sinopec) have already submitted applications to lift
processed oil prices.
Informed sources said that the NDRC has already worked out an
initial plan of price lifting, which will be issued within the
month at the soonest.
According to Mr. Shan Weiguo, director of the China Petroleum
Economic and Information Research Center, relevant
departments?will do a comprehensive review on lifting
processed oil prices and take into consideration the potential
implications to industries and the chain effect it might bring to
the CPI.
For more details, please read the full story in Chinese (http://www.cnstock.com/jryw/2007-07/11/content_2319197.htm).
(China.org.cn July 11, 2007)
