Auto fuel in Shanghai back to gov't price ceiling

Shanghai, March 16 (Gasgoo.com) Fuel companies raised pump prices over the weekend in Shanghai, ending their promotional gasoline and diesel discounts and bringing most prices back to the government's ceiling, xinhuanet.com reported today.

For 93-octane gasoline, PetroChina has raised the retail price from 4.71 yuan ($0.69) to 4.90 yuan a liter, and Sinopec has marked it up from 4.76 yuan to 4.95 yuan.

For 90-octane gasoline, both the fuel companies have raised its price to 4.50 yuan. PetroChina has raised the price of zero-grade diesel to 4.66 yuan, which is still lower than that of Sinopec. 

But the privately-run gasoline stations have not followed suit to mark up their retail prices yet, still selling 93-octane gasoline for 4.60 yuan a liter, and 90-octane gasoline for 4.25 yuan, lower than the price cap of 4.55 yuan.

The new prices, which came into effect at 7p.m. on Saturday, are in line with the price ceiling set by the government in mid-January, said a deputy general manager of Sinopec's Shanghai sales branch.

Sinopec and PetroChina, the two biggest fuel giants in China, have waged a price war since December 2008 as the Chinese government introduced new fuel-pricing rules and crude costs fell.