Fuel Fund borrowing Bt20 billion to freeze diesel at Bt30/litre until March end
The Energy Ministry will cap the price of diesel at 30 baht per litre until the end of March, permanent secretary Kulit Sombatsiri announced on Thursday. The Oil Fuel Fund Office (OFFO) is borrowing 20 billion baht to support the move.
Meanwhile the price of LPG will be fixed at 318 baht per 15-kilogram barrel until the end of January, followed by gradual stepped increases to reduce the burden of subsidies.
The news comes after the National Energy Policy Council (NEPC) approved 2022 natural gas management guidelines proposed by the ministry. The five guidelines are as follows:
1. Prepare additional gas purchase agreements from potential natural gas fields, in the Gulf of Thailand and the Thai-Malaysia Joint Development Area.
2. Postponement of the plan to retire Mae Moh Power Plant Unit 8 until December 31, 2022
3. Buy more electricity from renewable energy from Small Power Producers (SPP) and/or Very Small Power Producers (VSPP).
4. Switch to diesel and fuel oil instead of natural gas for electricity generation. However, all measures depend on the Generation Mix, or the capacity of the supported transmission system and adequacy of seasonal fuel supplies.
5. To purchase electricity from the Laos hydropower project to replace imported LNG Spot.
