Petrol passed Bt30 at most stations early this morning
All oil companies but PTT Plc raised retail petrol prices early this morning, pushing up the price of octane-95 above the Bt30 benchmark for the first time.
The price of the fuel at all non-PTT stations went up 40 satang a litre to Bt30.19. They also hiked the octane-91 price to Bt29.39, while maintaining the price of diesel. The oil companies attributed the increase to the jump in world oil prices following North Korea's missile launch, as well as rising demand in Asian countries. They said world oil prices could drop next week if the situation eased, which would pave the way for a reduction in domestic retail prices.State-owned PTT Plc will wait until Monday to raise its prices, says company's president Prasert Bunsumpun. Dubai crude and finished oil in Singapore yesterday rose US$1 (Bt38) per barrel to $68 and $86, respectively. The increase pulled down the average marketing fee (essentially the profit margin) of all oil products to 40 satang per litre. Prasert noted that the petrol marketing fee was near the negative range, while the diesel marketing fee was only slightly positive. Meanwhile, Associated Press reported from Singapore that light, sweet crude for delivery next month fell 34 cents to $74.80 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract slipped 5 cents to settle at $75.14 a barrel on Thursday.
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