PetroChina, Sinopec expect to be given fuel pricing right

CNPC and the Sinopec Group, China’s largest fuel providers, expect to be given the rights to set retail fuel prices, replacing the government-imposed pricing mechanism, reported the Economic Observer. The report said the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planner and pricing regulator, recently assessed China’s fuel pricing mechanism and is ready to change it, including giving more rights to oil firms, adjusting the fuel price more frequently, and levying a consumption tax in the retail sector rather than in the production sector. Economic Observer cited an unnamed source as saying that it has been proposed that Sinopec and CNPC be given price-setting rights on crude oil within a certain range. For their part, they hope to adjust fuel prices more frequently to lower their production costs. (June 7, 2010)