State-owned CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) is considering investing in shale gas extraction and a petrochemical plant in the US, company chairman Derek Chen (陳金德) said yesterday.
Chen is scheduled to depart for the US on June 14 on a fact-finding visit.
Chen said that CPC and its affiliates would like to invest about US$10 billion in the US, with the aim of adopting more advanced technology to produce higher-quality ethylene at a lower cost.
He said the first step is next month’s visit to the US, when he will be accompanied by Minister Without Portfolio Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥), to explore the possibility of investing in natural gas in Louisiana.
One issue of concern is whether petrochemical products from a CPC downstream factory would have a strong market in the US, Chen said, noting that since US President Donald Trump took office in January, he has made US manufacturing a top priority.
If the project gets off the ground, Chen forecast a September start date.
However, he added that state-owned companies like CPC are subject to certain regulations that could slow overseas investment efforts and hamper quick adaptation to changing markets.
Separately, CPC yesterday said it is to raise its domestic gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.2 per liter, starting today. It is to be the company’s second price hike in two weeks.
After the increase, prices at CPC gas stations nationwide are to be NT$21.7 per liter for super diesel, NT$24.1 per liter for 92-octane unleaded, NT$25.6 per liter for 95-octane unleaded and NT$27.6 per liter for 98-octane unleaded, the company said.
The prices reflect a rise last week in international crude oil prices after OPEC and non-OPEC producers on Thursday agreed to extend oil output cuts for another nine months until March next year.
A drop in US oil stocks for the seventh straight week also pushed crude prices higher, CPC said.
CPC calculates its weekly fuel prices based on a weighted oil price formula made up of 70 percent Dubai crude and 30 percent Brent crude.
After the increase in international crude prices, CPC’s average price of crude oil was calculated at US$52.44 per barrel this week, up from US$51.28 per barrel last week, it said.
Privately owned refiner Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) on Saturday announced similar price increases for this week.
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
Taiwan will prioritize the development of silicon photonics by taking advantage of its strength in the semiconductor industry to build another shield to protect the local economy, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said yesterday. Speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Liu said Taiwan already has the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as a shield, after the semiconductor industry, to safeguard the country, and is looking at new unique fields to build more economic shields. While Taiwan will further strengthen its existing shields, over the longer term, the country is determined to focus on such potential segments as
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS