NGV consumption drops as oil prices slide
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Thailand's consumption of natural gas for vehicle (NGV) has dropped by 200 tonnes per day from about 9,000 tonnes, after the slide in oil prices, according to PTT.
Nattachart Jaruchinda, PTT chief executive officer for upstream petroleum and natural gas, said that some NGV users have switched to fuel oil.
Aside from lower consumption rate, PTT is also forced to lower NGV prices in line with the falling cost.
According to Nattachart, under the energy price restructuring scheme, the retail price would be raised by Bt3.50 per kg to Bt16. Yet, lower oil prices indicate that the increase would be cut to Bt2, to Bt14 per kg.
"If the Energy Policy Administration Committee approves the price increase tomorrow, the price could be raised in two steps, by Bt1 each. Then, the price will be based on the actual cost and the subsidy will end. PTT will then be relieved from the subsidy which costs about Bt20 billion a year," Nattachart said.
