No diesel price cut despite falling oil: Energy minister
Energy Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow said on Wednesday it is too early to lower the diesel price in Thailand despite the falling price of oil in the global market.
Supattanapong said the diesel price will be maintained at 35 baht per litre even though the Oil Fuel Fund should save around 3 baht per litre as the global oil price drops.
He added that diesel excise tax cut of 5 baht per litre would remain in place as compensation.
"We believe that Thailand's retail price of diesel at 34.94 baht per litre is not very high compared to neighbouring countries," he said.
He added that the ministry is collecting data to consider “New Year gifts” for the public.
As of Sunday (December 4), the Oil Fuel Fund was 129.42 billion baht in debt – 87.23 billion baht from subsidising fuel and 44.18 billion baht from subsidising liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Supattanapong said the ministry and Oil Fuel Fund are monitoring the global crude oil price closely after Opec+ maintained its production capacity at 2 million barrels per day, while the price of LNG remains high at around US$30 per barrel due to rising global demand in winter.
Moving to electricity bills, he said the ministry would consider the fuel tariff (FT) for January to April next year after talks between the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and PTT.
He said he expects the ERC to clarify the January-April FT soon to ensure it comes into effect on January 1.
The ministry and related agencies are making efforts to lower electricity production costs and find cheaper alternatives to LNG, he added.
"We expect the ERC to announce the FT soon, so the ministry can gather data to launch measures to relieve expense burdens among the public, while industry can seek ways to mitigate FT impacts as much as possible.”
Related stories:
