Beijing Gasoline, Diesel Prices to Rise to Fund Cleaner Fuels

By Yi Tian

Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Beijing will raise the retail price of gasoline and diesel today to offset the higher cost of providing the capital city with cleaner fuels, a municipal commission said.

Gasoline prices will jump by 200 yuan ($29) a metric ton and diesel prices will increase by 290 yuan a ton for fuel sold only in Beijing, the Municipal Commission of Development and Reform said in a notice yesterday on its Web site. On Jan. 1, China introduced a more costly fuel with cleaner emissions in Beijing to cut pollution before the Olympic Games in August.

Higher prices to run more than 3 million vehicles in the city may help ease refining losses at China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. and PetroChina Co. The nation's two biggest oil companies posted a combined loss of 105 billion yuan in their processing business during the first half, as oil prices jumped 46 percent and headed to a record $147.27 a barrel on July 11.


No. 93 gasoline, the most-used type of fuel in the country, will cost 5.90 yuan a liter, up 2.8 percent from the price on June 20, when China raised prices nationally by at least 17 percent to rein in energy use. Gas stations in Beijing may sell No. 93 for as much as 6.37 yuan a liter after an adjustment of up to 8 percent as allowed by the policy. Diesel may cost as much as 6.50 yuan a liter.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yi Tian in New York at ytian8@bloomberg.net.