Oil Fuel Fund in deficit over Bt17 billion
The Oil Fuel Fund is currently in deficit for over Bt17 billion due to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidy scheme that will last until December this year, said Energy Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow on Monday after a meeting with the Energy Policy Administration Committee that he chairs.
The scheme has been using a budget of Bt1.4 billion per month to fix the LPG price at Bt318 per 15kg. canister since March 2020 in a bid to help alleviate people’s financial burden. Only LPG for household use will be subsidised.
“The committee has agreed to separate the LPG’s and oil fuel’s accounts from each other to efficiently manage the Oil Fuel Fund,” he said. “It is also planning to propose to the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) to approved additional budget from the government’s Bt500 billion emergency loan, which should help the scheme to continue from October 2021 up to January 2022.”
Supattanapong further added that he has tasked EGAT (Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand) and PTT Plc to find an alternative for liquefied natural gas (LNG) that has been used as a fuel for domestic electricity generating after the price of LNG in global spot market has increased by $32-34 per million BTUs. “The Ministry will try to keep the cost of electricity generating low as much as possible to avoid creating burden to electricity users,” he added.