Still no word from China on overdue fuel price rise

BEIJING (Reuters) - China still appears to be undecided on when and by how much to raise the country's retail fuel prices after an imminent increase last week failed to materialize.

The local Beijing News reported on the weekend that the top economic planner "canceled" a fuel price rise at the last minute on Thursday, citing unnamed officials from the top two oil majors.

"Late on the 5th (of November), the top two oil firms received a notice from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to scrap the order to raise oil prices from the 6th," the paper said.

However, an official from the news department of the NDRC told Reuters on Monday that the report was "groundless."

China put a new oil pricing mechanism in place at the beginning of the year, saying it could adjust fuel prices when global crude prices move more than 4 percent from their moving average over 22 working days.

The moving average has now jumped by about 10 percent from China's last price move on September 30 as global crude hovers around $80 a barrel compared with $67 in late September.

A price rise of 5 percent or about 300 yuan per tonne for gasoline and diesel was expected last week as refiners sent alarms that they were suffering refining losses due to the crude rally.

China has said that global crude change is not the only factor it will consider in adjusting retail fuel prices, with the NDRC revealing previously market supply and demand, economic performance and inflationary levels were all on its consideration list.

In May, the NDRC postponed a 6-7 percent price rise by almost three weeks due to concerns about a smooth emergence from the global financial crisis.