BEIJING: China may raise gasoline and diesel retail prices from Tuesday, consultancy C1 Energy said in a report on its website.
The Pricing Department under the National Development and Reform Commission will hold a meeting on Monday afternoon, which by convention might herald a fuel price change, according to the report.
The government last raised fuel prices in February, lifting gasoline and diesel rates by 3-4 percent to record highs.
Some industry officials including PetroChina Chairman have said recently that China should raise fuel prices based on its existing fuel pricing formula.
According to the formula, the government may consider lifting fuel prices if a moving average price for a basket of crudes rises over 4 percent in about a month.
Crude oil prices have increased around 11 percent since China’s last fuel price hike on Feb 8, according to C1 Energy, which tracks China’s fuel prices closely.
The China Securities Journal reported on Monday that prices would be raised by as much as 700 yuan a tonne, citing unidentified sources.
The estimate is much higher than the 400-500 yuan/tonne increase that industry analysts are expecting and refining sources have expressed doubts that Beijing, which has only recently succeeded in squelching inflation, would opt for such a large increase.
C1 Energy didn’t give an estimate of the size of the increase in the report on Monday.
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