China will increase retail oil prices on Feb 9

A gas station in Fuyang, Anhui province. [Photo/China Daily]

With global crude prices soaring over the past four days after a seven-month plunge, China is poised to raise its retail oil price on Feb 9, the first price increase since July of last year.

The retail oil price will rise by around 280 yuan ($44.92) per metric ton, or 0.21 yuan a liter for gasoline and 0.24 yuan a liter for diesel on Monday, according to Shanghai-based energy information consultancy ICIS C1 Energy.

Liang Dan, oil products analyst with C1 Energy, said this round of oil price adjustment is caused by investors' restock. Shandong province, where most of China's refiners are located, has raised wholesale prices of refined oil products for several times on Tuesday.

According to C1 Energy, the wholesale price of gasoline increased to 5,616 yuan a ton on Tuesday, up 144 yuan a ton from Jan 30.