Cut in contribution to oil fund from gasohol 95, diesel
ENERGY MINISTER Narongchai Akrasanee says the Energy Policy Committee (EPC) has decided to reduce the contribution to the Oil Fund by Bt1 per litre for gasohol 95 and diesel.
For gasohol the reduction is 50 satang while there has been no change for benzene 95 and gasohol E20 and E85.
Narongchai said the EPC would coordinate with oil retailers to lower their retail fuel prices accordingly.
The latest retail prices for the various fuel types following the reduction in contributions to the Oil Fund are as follows: benzene fuel, down by Bt 1 a litre to B33.46 a litre; gasohol 95, down by B1 a litre to Bt27.90 a litre; gasohol 91 down 50 satang to Bt 27.08; gasohol E20, down 50 satang to Bt25.68; gasohol E85, down Bt1.50 to B21.98; diesel down Bt1 to Bt25.09. The price changes are effective today.
The EPC also resolved yesterday to review the liquefied petroleum gas price structure for April.
The world’s LPG price for April stood at about US$464 a tonne (Bt15,000), a drop of $20 a tonnes from the previous month.
A slight weakening of the exchange rate pushed the refinery LPG price (base buy price) down by 37 satang a kilogramme to Bt16.21. That resulted in the LPG retail price falling from Bt24.16 to Bt 23.96 a kilogramme.
Hence, the EPC will raise the contribution to the LPG Fund by 19 satang a kilogramme to maintain price stability in times of LPG price volatility globally, effective today.
In addition, the EPC agreed to establish funds for finished petroleum products and LPG which will be set up in accordance with the oil and LPG consumption value.
In 2014, that value was at about Bt1.49 billion a day, of which 85 per cent came from finished petroleum products and 15 per cent from LPG consumption.
When the finished petroleum products and LPG funds are established, they will have about Bt33.36 billion and about Bt5.72 billion respectively.
The establishment of the funds will proceed in accordance with a Energy Policy and Planning Office resolution on December 15, 2014 pertaining to fuel price restructuring, which requires a reduction in cross-subsidy compensation and a more active role from the Oil Fund in maintaining retail fuel prices.
