OFFO caps diesel price at 30 baht a litre
Diesel fuel in Thailand is to be capped at no more than 30 baht per litre in line with the Oil Fuel Fund Office’s (OFFO) resolution on Wednesday to continue subsidising the retail price of diesel despite the fund being nearly 100 billion baht in deficit.
The OFFO committee met on Wednesday in a session chaired by Deputy PM and Energy Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga and agreed to continue implementing the 30 baht per litre price ceiling.
To cope with rising global oil prices, the meeting approved the Oil Fuel Fund to raise the subsidy by 0.4 baht per litre to keep the diesel price below 30 baht per litre. In total, the fund will be shouldering 4.57 baht for each litre of diesel sold.
OFFO promised to monitor the global oil prices closely and will use appropriate measures when necessary.
The 30-baht price cap was implemented last September in a bid to ease people’s financial burden and was extended every three months until it expired on March 31.
On April 2, some oil retailers started selling diesel at uncapped prices of around 30.49 to 30.60 baht.
The committee also acknowledged the Oil Fuel Fund’s status, which is in deficit at 99.82 billion baht as of Wednesday. Of that, 52.72 billion baht is from the oil account and 47.09 billion baht from the liquid petroleum gas (LPG) account.
The energy minister told the meeting that the ministry is coordinating with the Finance Ministry to consider extending the excise tax cut on diesel fuel at 1 baht per litre, a measure that will expire on April 19.
Retail prices of diesel in Bangkok on Thursday at PTT and Bangchak stations are as follows:
- Diesel B7, B10 and B20: 29.94 baht per litre
- Super Power Diesel B7: 41.24 baht per litre (PTT)
- Hi Premium Diesel S B7: 44.14 baht per litre (Bangchak)
