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AUTOMOBILES & ENERGY SAVING
YUTHANA PRAIWAN
TAK : PTT Plc is doubling its imports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to 40,000 tonnes this month to serve rising demand in the transport and industrial sectors.
The two sectors now account for nearly 35% of total LPG consumption and have recorded growth of 12-17% over the first five months of this year, according to Metta Buntherngsuk, director-general of the Department of Energy Business. The remaining LPG supplies are used mainly for cooking.
Thailand has been a net LPG exporter but needed to start importing the fuel in April because of high consumption in transport and industry.
LPG has been heavily subsidised for years by governments seeking to ease the burden of cooking-gas costs on households and food vendors. However, increasing LPG use by vehicle owners looking to save money has prompted calls for a two-tier system under which cooking gas would be cheaper than LPG used for other purposes.
Majority state-owned PTT has borne the brunt of the subsidy costs. It has fixed LPG prices at US$320 per tonne or 18.13 baht a kilogramme, compared with world market prices of $872 a tonne or 40 baht a kilogramme.
As a result, the company lost 350 million baht on its first lot of imports in April and the loss in May is forecast to double.
PTT had forecast LPG import demand at 300,000 tonnes this year and 500,000 tonnes next year, but Mr Metta said 200,000 tonnes would be closer to real demand. ''LPG will lose its attraction for motorists because incentives for natural gas are more interesting, and the government is also making more of an effort to fight LPG smugglers,'' he said.
Some motorists have attempted to adapt cooking-gas cylinders for their vehicles, a potentially dangerous practice that has now been outlawed. Violators can face one year in jail and/or a fine of 100,000 baht.
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