The Department of State-owned Enterprises of the Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that as state-owned enterprises, PetroChina and Taipower continued to absorb increases and paid high costs in order to stabilize prices and take care of people's livelihood. (File photo)
[Reporter Liao Jianing/Taipei Report] Since the beginning of the war between the United States and Iran at the end of February this year, global oil and gas supply has dropped sharply and spot prices have fluctuated violently. The Department of State-owned Enterprises of the Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that CNPC and Taipower, as state-owned enterprises, continue to absorb increases and pay high costs in order to stabilize prices and take care of people's livelihood. CNPC's current debt ratio is as high as 94%. It hopes that the whole people will support the preparation of budgets to subsidize CNPC and Taipower, so that state-owned enterprises can operate steadily, so that people's livelihood, industry and the national economy can continue to be stabilized.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs established the Middle East Energy Response Team immediately after the war to continuously review the oil and gas safety stocks of China National Petroleum Corporation, instructing China National Petroleum Corporation to urgently purchase oil and gas and maintain high-level reserves, and urged Taipower, China National Petroleum Corporation and related oil companies to cooperate in stabilizing gasoline, diesel, natural gas and household liquefied petroleum gas price policies to ensure domestic energy security and people's livelihood supply.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that CNPC and Taipower fully played the key role of state-owned enterprises in stabilizing prices and taking care of people's livelihood, but they also paid high costs. Taking PetroChina as an example, it has froze and slowed down the price increases of gasoline, diesel, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas for a long time, absorbing costs on its own and assisting the government in stabilizing prices. The current debt ratio is as high as 94%.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs further pointed out that in order to stabilize oil prices and avoid price increases, governments of various countries have adopted gasoline and diesel price subsidies and tax adjustment policies to stabilize domestic energy prices through oil price subsidy measures. For example, the Japanese government continues to use subsidies to maintain the retail price of gasoline at around 170 yen per liter. The government spends more than 10 billion yen every day, and the cumulative expenditure since the implementation of subsidy measures is approximately 9.6 trillion yen.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs continued that in addition to Japan's continued subsidy measures, other countries have also adopted relevant policy tools to respond. For example, the South Korean government has budgeted more than NT$130 billion to subsidize refiners or wholesalers to curb rising fuel prices. The French government has expanded a fuel assistance program for high-frequency commuters, while the German government has implemented energy tax reduction measures. The British government has significantly extended the fuel tax freeze policy and the temporary tax reduction of 5 pence per liter until July 2027. The main purpose of our government's budget allocation to CNPC and Taipower is to reduce the impact on people's living prices and reduce the people's burden.
Finally, the Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that in the face of severe challenges in the international energy market, it hopes that all sectors of society will support the government in formulating budgets to allocate subsidies to CNPC and Taipower, so that CNPC and Taipower can operate steadily and continue to stabilize people's livelihood, industry and the national economy.
