This month, domestic oil prices likely to rise

Source:Edison Mandarin
Domestic fuel prices will probably rise in line with international crude prices according to the new fuel pricing scheme launched in early 2008, analysts said Sunday.

"Oil prices are likely to rise over the last 10 days of January," said Yang Hong, an analyst with the Shanghai-based oil industry website oilgas.com.cn. "The oil price might be upped 200 yuan ($29.3) to 300 yuan ($43.9) per ton of oil product."

The country's oil price setter, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), unveiled the new oil pricing mechanism in an effort to hook domestic oil prices to international crude prices at the beginning of 2008.

In May, the NDRC said it would adjust oil prices when international crude prices change more than 4 percent from their moving average over 22 working days.

The international crude price is calculated based on the weighted average of a basket of Brent, Dubai and Minas blends of crude oil. The benchmark Nymex crude breached $83 per barrel last Wednesday, and closed at $82.75, while the international crude price also reached $80 last week.
If the international crude price stands above $77.40 over the rest of the month, the condition for adjusting prices would be met after January 20, according to a report by the Shanghai Securities Daily, which cited the C1 Energy analysis firm.