According to the notice of the National Development and Reform Commission, from 3 o'clock on March 17, each ton of gasoline will be reduced by 3 yuan and 17 yuan per ton of diesel.
This round is the sixth price adjustment of domestic oil prices in 2023, and after the price adjustment, refined oil products will show a pattern of "two rises, two falls and two strandings" during the year. According to agency estimates, the price adjustment is equivalent to a reduction of 92.0 yuan per liter of No. 08 gasoline, 95.0 yuan per liter of No. 08 gasoline, and 0.0 yuan per liter of No. 08 diesel.
Infographic: Gas stations. Photo by Ge Cheng of Zhongxin Finance
Taking an ordinary private car with a fuel tank capacity of 50L as an example, after this price adjustment, the owner will spend about 4 yuan less to fill up a tank of fuel. In terms of diesel, a large truck with a fuel tank capacity of 160L will spend about 12.8 yuan less on a full tank of fuel.
In this round of pricing cycle, affected by the successive failures of Silicon Valley Bank and American Signature Bank, on March 3, U.S. WTI crude oil futures and Brent crude oil futures fell by more than 13%, and successively lost the $3 and $75 mark, refreshing a new low of more than a month.
According to Liu Wenjie, an analyst at Longzhong Information, the turmoil in the US financial industry has affected the global financial market, resulting in downward pressure on international oil prices. Although the market is generally optimistic about China's economic and demand prospects, and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners (OPEC+) have been relatively firm in their stance on production cuts, the bankruptcy of the Silicon Valley Bank in the United States has led to a sharp decline in US stocks, and the market has become more worried about economic risks, and crude oil futures prices have suffered a heavy blow.
"On the whole, the average price of the affiliated oil type during the pricing cycle has moved downward, and the corresponding comprehensive rate of change of crude oil has run in a negative range, opening the window for this round of retail price reduction."
The next round of domestic refined oil price adjustment window will open at 3:31 on March 24.
"In the near future, the decline in international oil prices will be reflected in the new price adjustment cycle, and it is expected that the probability of the next round of refined oil price adjustment will be relatively large." Longzhong information analyst Li Yan analyzed that at present, the economic worries caused by banking problems in Europe and the United States have not been completely alleviated, and the market is still worried that the European and American economies may fall into recession. Based on the current international crude oil price level, the next round of refined oil price adjustment will show a sharp downward trend.
"In the short term, there is still downward pressure on international crude oil, the rate of change may continue to fluctuate negatively, and a new round of retail price reduction is still a high probability event." Wang Shan, an oil product analyst at Jinlianchuang, also holds the same view. (End)