CPC Corporation, Taiwan is a state-owned petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

, natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

, and gasoline

Gasoline

Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...

 company in Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 and is the core of the Taiwanese petrochemicals industry. Prior to February 9, 2007, the company was known by its former full name Chinese Petroleum Corporation (中國石油), until the board approved the name change on that date with immediate effect.

The Kuomintang

Kuomintang

The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

 party has argued that the name change is not valid because no legislation was passed in the legislature to support it. The KMT believes that the approval of the Legislative Yuan

Legislative Yuan

The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China .The Legislative Yuan is one of the five branches of government stipulated by the Constitution of the Republic of China, which follows Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People...

 is required before a state-owned company can change its name.

Brief history

CPC was founded on June 1, 1946 in Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

 by the government of the Republic of China. However, the company was founded by merging all relevant facilities and companies (Japanese 6th Naval Fuel Depot, Teikoku Oil, Nippon Oil

Nippon Oil

The , or NOC or Shin-Nisseki is a Japanese petroleum company. Its businesses include the exploration, importation, and refining of crude oil; the manufacture and sale of petroleum products, including fuels and lubricants; and other energy-related activities.Its products are sold under the brand...

 and etc.) in Taiwan. With the Kuomintang

Kuomintang

The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

 retreat to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War

Chinese Civil War

The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...

, CPC was transferred from the Council of Resources to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Its main businesses include surveying, extracting, refining, transporting, and selling petroleum. It also produces various chemicals and has retail outlets all over Taiwan. CPC's fixing of petrol prices helped Taiwan through the Energy Crisis. Taiwan's petroleum industry was a CPC monopoly prior to the 1990s , however deregulation allowed private firms to invest, leading to Formosa Plastics Group

Formosa Plastics Group

Formosa Plastics Group is a Taiwanese conglomerate of diverse interests, including biotechnology, petrochemical processing and production of electronics components...

's launch of CPC competitor Formosa Petrochemical Company.