The Studies on Related Issues of the Petroleum Product Market

Abstract

Petroleum and its refined products constitute the world’s largest commodity trading category, playing in a significant role in global economic activities. Currently, the petroleum industry in most countries is being liberalized and petroleum needed for domestic use, liberalization issues are particularly important, both in terms of military strategy and economic policy. Since the termination of Martial Law in 1987, the petroleum sector has been deregulated to allow for more participation from the private sector. However, in many respects the oil market is still controlled. Therefore, it is imperative that the government deregulate the oil market, and carefully study liberalization/deregulation strategies in advance in order to avoid possible problems later.

The main purpose of this paper is to facilitate government efforts in undertaking the above-mentioned tasks; namely, to propose a system for the appropriate management of the petroleum market in Taiwan, to formulate suitable petroleum-related legislation and to present relevant policy recommendations.