Energy policymakers in Thailand agreed this month to keep the retail price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) unchanged at 20.29 baht a kilogramme for another month, despite the continued rise in global gas prices, as reported in the Bangkok Post.
At its monthly meeting, the Energy Policy Administration Committee (Epac) approved a retail LPG price of 20.29 a kg, the same as in April, though the benchmark propane contract price of Saudi Aramco rose to US$347 a tonne from $332 last month. Twarath Sutabutr, director-general of the Energy Policy and Planning Office, said the price could be maintained because of the lower price of natural gas from fields in the Gulf of Thailand.
Thailand consumes natural gas from various sources, including the Gulf of Thailand, with extraction mostly done by SET-listed PTT Exploration and Production. Lower gas prices in Gulf of Thailand fields have dragged down domestic benchmark prices by 12 satang a kg to 13.9 baht a kg. A decrease in Thailand's LPG production cost has also helped ease the financial burden of the state Oil Fund, which is subsidising local retail LPG prices for consumers to the tune of 58 satang a kg, down from 71 satang in April.
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