The Global Times - The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced late Thursday that it would raise domestic gasoline price by 390 yuan ($62) and diesel price by 370 yuan per ton, after three consecutive price cuts since May.
Following the adjustment, domestic gasoline price will be raised by 0.29 yuan per liter and diesel price by 0.32 yuan per liter. Prices of 92-octane gasoline in most places of China will be above 7 yuan per liter again.
The commission has cut oil prices three times this year. In May, it lowered prices by over 300 yuan per ton. On June 9, it cut prices by more than 500 yuan per ton, the biggest cut in three years, and on July 12 by over 400 yuan per ton.
"The price adjustment can basically reflect the real changes in international crude prices," Wang Jintao, chief analyst at commodity information provider Zibo Zhongyu Information Technology Co, told the Global Times.
Wang noted that different from previous price hikes, when the NDRC had to take into consideration the inflation pressure, the commission did not need to delay the price increase this time as China's CPI has fallen to 1.8 percent.
Analysts said that it is not very likely for the country to see another price increase during the next few months.
"The international prices may rise moderately to some $95 per barrel, but not much higher than that," said Wang.
The price increase can help reduce the losses of domestic refineries, said Yu Xiaoying, an industry analyst at ICIS C1 energy.
