Bt50,000 A Minute To Keep Oil Prices Down

Bt50,000 a minute to keep oil prices down

BANGKOK: Every minute the government spends approximately Bt50,000 to subsidise local oil prices, according to the Energy Policy and Planning Office of the Energy Ministry.

The rate is down from a spending peak of Bt100,000 per minute when the government set a ceiling on dome-stic oil prices on January 10, following a reduction in world oil prices, said director-general Metta Banturngsuk.

However, world oil prices currently remain at a relatively high level and everyone should help reduce oil consumption and subsidy expenditure, he said.

The govt subsidy keeps domestic oil prices at Bt16.99 a litre for 95 petrol, Bt16.19 for 91 petrol, and Bt14.49 for diesel. Without the support of the state-managed oil fund, Metta said, domestic oil prices would now stand at Bt18.66 a litre for premium petrol, Bt17.97 for regular petrol and Bt15.29 for diesel.

As of March 1, the government has paid a total of Bt2.78 billion to maintain domestic oil prices at the capped levels. The public will have to pay back this amount to the government when world oil prices return to their normal levels, Metta said.

“Therefore, the public should help reduce oil consumption and the subsidy burden of the oil fund. There are many methods that they can use,” he said.

The Energy Ministry, in cooperation with Bangchak Petroleum Plc, PTT Plc, Connoco (Thailand) Ltd (operator of Jet petrol stations), Kuwait Petroleum (Thailand) Ltd, The Shell Company of Thailand Ltd, Esso (Thailand) Plc and Caltex Oil (Thailand) Ltd, has published over 100,000 manuals on oil-saving strategies for free distribution to motorists who visit their filling stations in the Bangkok metropolitan area,” Metta said.

Thailand imports 95 per cent of its crude oil, valued at between Bt300 billion and Bt400 billion annually.

--The Nation 2004-03-04