Energy News  
China Urged To Introduce Fuel Tax And Energy-Saving Fund

Chinese refiners have been losing billions of dollars since oil prices broke through 60 dollars a barrel because state regulations limit the prices they can charge customers.
by Staff Writers
Shanghai (AFP) Sep 11, 2006
China should introduce a fuel tax and set up an energy-saving fund to help it reduce its wasteful consumption of oil, an official said Monday in the People's Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece. "Imposing a fuel tax is designed to lead to rational oil consumption by increasing the cost of consumption in a gradual way," said Gao Shixian, head of research at the National Development and Reform Commission's energy center.

China is the second-largest oil importer in the world after the United States and its need for fuel resources has jumped sharply as its economy booms with growth of 10.9 percent in the first half of the year.

Demand is expected to average 7.03 million barrels per day in 2006, 7.42 million bpd in 2007 and 7.8 million bpd in 2008, the International Energy Agency said in a recent report.

Meanwhile, to ease the impact of oil price fluctuations on consumers, Gao suggested the fuel tax rate should be adjusted in line with international oil prices.

Setting up an energy saving fund would help boost energy efficiency, Gao said, without explaining how.

Gao said China must also establish a new oil product pricing mechanism that reflects true market supply and demand.

China caps oil costs at home in order to stifle inflation, with prices based on the previous month's oil product prices in New York, Singapore and Rotterdam plus transportation costs and customs duties.

Last year, major fuel shortages emerged in the southern business hub of Guangdong after Chinese refiners, faced with certain losses, held back supply at a time when they had to pay then-record oil prices.

Chinese refiners have been losing billions of dollars since oil prices broke through 60 dollars a barrel because state regulations limit the prices they can charge customers.

Beijing has been struggling over how to overhaul its rigid and distorting oil pricing system but is concerned that a completely free market could lead to social instability if poorer people suffered as a result of high prices.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
Powering The World in the 21st Century
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


World In No Danger Of Running Out Of Oil Says ExxonMobil Australia
Adelaide, Australia (AFP) Sep 11, 2006
Predictions that global oil supplies will soon run dry are wrong and crude will remain the main energy source well into the future, ExxonMobil Australia chairman Mark Nolan said Monday. Nolan told the Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference here that the oil industry had to counter perceptions a world oil shortage was imminent to ensure politicians adopted sound long-term policies on energy issues.







  • World In No Danger Of Running Out Of Oil Says ExxonMobil Australia
  • Oil Prices Slide To Near Six-Month Lows
  • China Urged To Introduce Fuel Tax And Energy-Saving Fund
  • Researchers Aim To Enhance Air Vehicle Systems

  • Understanding The Chemistry Of Ionic Liquids For Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing
  • Iran Denies Uranium Suspension Reports
  • US Reactor Security Queried: Part Two
  • Australia Could Export Uranium To China Within Months

  • NASA Experiment Finds Possible Trigger For Radio-Busting Bubbles
  • California's Model Skies
  • ESA Picks SSTL To Develop Atmospheric CO2 Detector
  • Faster Atmospheric Warming In Subtropics Pushes Jet Streams Toward Poles

  • Fires Rage As Haze Thickens In Borneo
  • Large-Scale Farming Now Causes Substantial Forest Loss in Amazon
  • The Subtleties Of Tropical Forest Demise
  • NASA Satellites Can See How Climate Change Affects Forests

  • China Rejects Claims Of GM Rice Entering EU Foods
  • GM Chinese Rice Maybe Contaminating European Food
  • French Police Arrest Three As Hundreds Try To Destroy GM Crops
  • Japanese Sushi Infatuation Straining Atlantic Tuna Stocks

  • Real-Time Traffic Routing From The Comfort Of Your Car
  • Real-Time Traffic Routing From The Comfort Of Your Car
  • British Police Force To Introduce Greener Cars
  • Two New Segway Models Offered

  • US Sanctions On Russia Could Hurt Boeing
  • Boeing Puts Aircraft Market At 2.6 Trillion Dollars
  • Innovative Solutions Make Transportation Systems Safer Secure and Efficient
  • Joint Strike Fighter Is Not Flawed Finds Australian Government

  • Could NASA Get To Pluto Faster? Space Expert Says Yes - By Thinking Nuclear
  • NASA plans to send new robot to Jupiter
  • Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission
  • Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement