BEIJING, March 26 - China will adjust domestic fuel prices when international oil prices rise or fall more than 4 percent within 22 straight working days, an oil executive was quoted as saying, in the first glimpse of the government's opaque pricing scheme introduced in December.
Zhou Jiping, PetroChina's president, said that Wednesday's fuel price increase was based on this rule, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Thursday.
China raised gasoline prices by 4.6 percent and diesel by 3.2 percent on Wednesday, citing a recent sustained increase in international crude oil prices as the reason.
This was the first increase in domestic fuel prices since December when China introduced a "perfected" fuel pricing system.
Some analysts said the move was a signal to the market that the authorities were determined to follow the rules on fuel pricing, while others cautioned it would do little to help the economy that had just shown some signs of a possible recovery, a factor often behind the government's thinking.
Beijing has never disclosed how it sets fuel prices other than saying "when changes in international oil prices exceed a certain level for a certain period of time, domestic prices for refined oil products will be correspondingly adjusted".
It also stated "they would indirectly link domestic fuel rates with international oil prices by considering factors including oil prices, processing costs, a profit margin and domestic supply and demand."
Zhou Jiping, PetroChina's president, said that Wednesday's fuel price increase was based on this rule, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Thursday.
China raised gasoline prices by 4.6 percent and diesel by 3.2 percent on Wednesday, citing a recent sustained increase in international crude oil prices as the reason.
This was the first increase in domestic fuel prices since December when China introduced a "perfected" fuel pricing system.
Some analysts said the move was a signal to the market that the authorities were determined to follow the rules on fuel pricing, while others cautioned it would do little to help the economy that had just shown some signs of a possible recovery, a factor often behind the government's thinking.
Beijing has never disclosed how it sets fuel prices other than saying "when changes in international oil prices exceed a certain level for a certain period of time, domestic prices for refined oil products will be correspondingly adjusted".
It also stated "they would indirectly link domestic fuel rates with international oil prices by considering factors including oil prices, processing costs, a profit margin and domestic supply and demand."
