THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Fuel price changes 'needed'

Fuel price changes 'needed'

Wasteful 'populism' a thing of the past, Narongchai warns

Energy Minister Narongchai Akrasanee said yesterday that the government would go ahead with reform of the energy sector, including adjustment of fuel prices to reflect their real costs.
In his first press conference since assuming the post, Narongchai said reform and reconciliation would be the important items on the government agenda, especially for the energy sector. In its policy address to the National Legislative Assembly yesterday, the government stated that it would reform fuel prices to conform with their true costs, and levy appropriate tax rates on each product and its consumers, in a bid to improve energy efficiency and prevent wasteful consumption.
Narongchai stressed that the policy also included opening a new round of bidding for petroleum exploration and production; building new power plants that use both fossil and renewable fuels; transparent, fair and environmentally friendly procedures; and joint development of energy sources with neighbouring countries.
He said his ministry would hold a weekly forum with the media in an effort to enhance public understanding of energy-policy matters, which are generally complex.
“The Energy Ministry must try to communicate to the majority of the citizens that these energy-policy guidelines follow the correct principles and are beneficial to the overall economy and the country’s future. 
“There will be no energy populism, except different forms of assistance that will be provided to low-income earners,” he said.
Narongchai said the Bt30-a-litre cap on diesel fuel was an “energy populism” policy introduced by previous governments that caused diesel consumption to balloon to 60 million litres per day, while causing a surplus of other petroleum products that had to be exported at low prices.
The reforms will involve making every type of fuel subject to the same tax rates, he said.
The ministry supports the use of liquefied petroleum gas as a raw material for the petrochemical industry and as cooking gas, but not for use in the transport sector. Therefore, it will come up with a guideline to adjust LPG prices for the transport sector.
Narongchai said Thailand had relied too much on natural gas for its electricity generation, and thus to enhance its energy security, it would have to find other principal fuels such as clean coal and nuclear power to be added to the country’s long-term power development plan. 
The ministry will also consider whether there is a need to open a new round of bidding for IPP (independent power producer) projects.
The ministry considers the opening of the 21st round of petroleum-exploration bidding and negotiations on expiring petroleum concessions among urgent matters that must be finalised within the tenure of the current military-led government. It is uncertain whether it can conclude talks with Cambodia on joint development of the overlapping claims area in the Gulf of Thailand within its tenure, because this is a complicated matter.
 
 
 
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