With international oil prices falling by more than 50% in just a few months, domestic and international oil price levels have undergone earth-shaking changes. Domestic gasoline prices are currently higher than those in the United States. According to estimates by industry insiders, the current price of national standard 93# gasoline is about 6.25 yuan per liter, equivalent to US$3.46 per gallon. Data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that the price of gasoline at U.S. gas stations fell 9.6% that week to $3.151 per gallon. It is generally believed that the recent rebound in international oil prices does not mean that oil prices will return to the upward channel in the short term, because the fundamentals of supply and demand have not significantly improved.

It is expected that the market will return to rationality after digesting factors such as reduced drilling volume and oil producers cutting expenditures. However, the room for oil prices to continue to bottom out is also very limited. Regarding today's increase in oil prices, Lin, director of the Energy Economics Research Center of Xiamen University, believes that the current international oil prices are still experiencing large fluctuations. This increase in oil prices does not mean the arrival of this turning point, and the future trend is still unclear. International crude oil prices have risen, and so have refined oil prices. People have nothing to say about being in line with international standards.

However, the price of crude oil has dropped, but the price of refined oil has not followed. What's the reason? In the face of people's doubts, NDRC said: Although the price of refined oil has increased, it is lower than that of Western countries such as the United States. Then the people were confused by the guise of "price inversion", and PetroChina and Sinopec seemed to always talk about refining losses. The ninth working day of this pricing cycle is also the last trading day on which international crude oil prices can be calculated. As low oil prices led to more drilling halts in the United States, international oil prices continued to rebound that day, with New York light crude oil futures for March delivery rising $1.21 to close at $51.69 per barrel.

This also makes today’s domestic gasoline and diesel prices no longer suspense. Since the first reduction in oil prices, thirteen consecutive declines have resulted in a cumulative reduction of refined oil prices per liter: gasoline by 2.03 yuan and diesel by 2.4 yuan. Based on this calculation, a private car with a 50-liter fuel tank can save 100 yuan by filling up a tank of fuel. This increase in oil prices has little impact on ordinary private car owners, who only spend an extra 10 yuan per tank of oil. In fact, China's $3.46 per gallon is higher than the United States' $3.151 per gallon. On the surface, it is not much higher, but in fact it is much higher. The oil price in the United States already includes road maintenance fees, bridge tolls, tolls, etc., while the oil price in China is only the oil price, and a series of other fees must be paid separately. And there's a hidden problem: Chinese people's incomes are much lower than Americans.