Reuters reports that gasoline and diesel prices in North Korea have surged after a Chinese state oil company suspended its fuel sales to the North.
 
Reuters said Monday that the price of gasoline sold by private dealers in Pyongyang and the northern border cities of Sinuiju and Hyesan jumped to two-point-18 dollars per kilogram as of July fifth. That’s up 50 percent from one-point-46 dollars per kg on June 21st.
 
Reuters had reported earlier on June 28th that the state-controlled China National Petroleum Corporation(CNPC) suspended diesel and gasoline sales to the North over the last month or two amid international pressure on Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear and missile programs.
 
The report assessed that given that CNPC has grown to dominate China's energy trade with Pyongyang, its suspension of fuel sales to the North is likely to have been the main factor that drove up oil prices in the communist state.
 
Last year, China shipped more than 96-thousand tons of gasoline and nearly 45-thousand tons of diesel to the North, worth a combined 64 million U.S. dollars.

[Photo : ]