Chinese ministry rules out sudden fuel price hike

BEIJING,May 9-- The government ruled out
any immediate increase in fuel prices on Friday despite increasing market
speculation about a possible hike, top pricing officials said.

Officials at the National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC) said the recent oil price rise on the global market indicated
that the domestic fuel prices should be raised.

But Xu Kunlin, deputy director of NDRC's pricing
department, told a news briefing on Friday that the authorities would only
increase prices after further careful consideration.

According to the fuel pricing mechanism announced on
Friday, China will adjust its fuel prices when global crude oil costs fluctuate
more than 4 percent over 22 straight working days.

The global crude oil price has been increasing since
March, rising from 35 U.S. dollars a barrel to around 58 U.S. dollars on
Thursday.

This was the first time the government made public
its fuel pricing mechanism since it announced last December that it would link
domestic gasoline and diesel prices to the international market.

Xu said many oil traders had engaged in speculative
dealing in recent days amid rumors of a price hike. "To prevent speculative
trading, we will not adjust oil prices exactly in line with the benchmarks set
in the regulation."

"And of course, we will not increase the prices today
(Friday) so that they can profit from speculation," Xu said.

The government raised the benchmark retail price of
gasoline by 290 yuan (42 U.S. dollars) per ton, or 5 percent, and diesel by 180
yuan per ton, or 3.7 percent, on March 25.

Xu said the price revisions show the new pricing
mechanism that took effect on Jan 1 means the government can respond accordingly
to international oil price changes.

He said the government would take the global economic
situation into account when deciding the adjustment of oil prices. "For example,
if the U.S. economy continues to worsen and oil prices come down, we will not
increase prices in the short term."

To prevent speculation, Xu ruled out announcing the
timing of oil price adjustment in advance. "I don't think we need transparency
in this regard."

Cao Changqing, director of the NDRC pricing
department, said the Chinese government has tracked the trend of several oil
markets worldwide.

China only monitored the oil price in Singapore in
the 1990s. "We've learnt a lesson from that because that created many massive
profit-making opportunities for speculators," he said.

PetroChina said on its website that China's
ex-factory gasoline and diesel prices are linked to the prices of Brent, Dubai
and Cinta crude oil, and it will also take into account transportation,
processing, tax and refining costs.

(Source: China Daily)

Iraqi oil minister says OPEC likely to cut production

Graphics shows the price of crude oil futures in the past 13 months. The price of light, sweet crude oil for March delivery rose 85 cents to settle at 41.17 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Feb. 5, 2009. (Xinhua/Meng Lijing)
Photo Gallery

BAGHDAD, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- OPEC members are expected
to decide to cut oil production in March in an attempt to raise oil price to70
U.S. dollars a barrel, Iraqi Oil Minister said on Saturday.

"OPEC members will meet in March, and there is an
intention to decide further cut to raise prices," Hussein al-Shahristani told
reporters at a symposium on oil and gas industry development.

"We expect a cut that the crude prices will be more
than 70 dollars a barrel," Shahristani said in Baghdad's Rasheed Hotel.

However, Shahristani said that the raise of the oil price will be achieved gradually and not necessary in the coming months.

A petrol station in front of the OPEC headquarters is pictured in Vienna October 24, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)
Photo Gallery

Shahristani also criticized the red tape in Iraq,
blaming it for the delay of efforts to boost the country's oil production.

He also hoped that Iraq could rapidly achieves oil
sector reconstruction and to form a national oil company, which can conclude oil
deals without waiting for cabinet approval.

Iraq is a member of the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC). The organization is not bounding Iraq by its
production quotas because of the country's dilapidated oil infrastructure.

Iraq oil reserve is reportedly to be the world's
third-largest, which needs billions of dollars investment to overhaul its oil
industry infrastructure and increase oil and gas output after decades of wars
and sanctions.

Jordan lowers fuel prices for ninth time since last August

AMMAN, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Jordan government Thursday lowered fuel prices for the ninth time since last August.

The prices of diesel and kerosene were lowered by 5.6 percent to 0.335 Jordanian dinar (about 0.473 U.S. dollar) a litre from 0.355 dinar, said Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Secretary General Farouk Hiyari.

However, the prices of gasoline 90 and gasoline 95 do not change due to "stability in its prices on international markets," Hiyari added.

Meanwhile, the price of cooking gas dropped for the first time from 6.5 dinar per cylinder to 6.250 dinar last August, down by about 4 percent.

Hiyari said the current updated cooking gas price represents the actual cost for the government, adding that the update prices will be effective until Feb. 12.

Jordan lifted fuel subsidies in last February and a special committee was assigned to define the prices. (1 dollar=0.708 dinar)

G8 meeting to focus on poverty, food security and market price

ROME, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Group of Eight (G8) agriculture ministers will discuss issues of world hunger, food security and the fluctuation of market prices when they meet in Italy at the coming weekend, Italian Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia said on Tuesday.

He said the theme of "productive identity" will also be key at the two-day G8 agriculture summit to be held from April 18 to 20 in Cison di Valmarino, near Treviso in the Veneto region.

"In agriculture there are two well-defined worlds: those that have agriculture with a productive identity such as Italy, which counts 4,500 typical products, and those that must invent their own agriculture. The latter would like to standardize production, tastes and consumption," the minister said.

The G8 ministers would speak of "real agriculture, practiced by farmers who harvest food from the earth, not by multinationals," as well as the effects of the global economic crisis on world hunger, Zaia said.

He also expressed his hope that the ministerial meeting would result in a "shared document" that would be sent to the G8 summit to be held in July on the Sardinian island of La Maddalena, where G8 heads of state will meet on major global and regional issues.