Despite the increased tax, oil retailers will reduce retail prices of petrol and diesel by 30 satang a litre.

A ministry source said oil retailers would now have to pay a total of Bt3.46 per litre of octane-95 petrol sold, Bt3.26 per litre of octane-91 petrol, Bt1.50 per litre of gasohol or diesel and 62.84 satang per litre of biodiesel.

"It's possible we'll raise the collection from petrol sales to the ceiling of Bt4 a litre, due to declining global oil prices," said the source.

Meanwhile, PTT Plc announced it would launch a programme next month to promote the use of natural gas for vehicles (NGV) among household vehicles as well as taxis.

Natthachart Charuchinda, executive vice president for natural gas at PTT, said all motorists would be offered a Bt5,000 discount on installation of an NGV system or a low-rate loan from Thanachart Bank with 4-5 per cent interest for 3 years.

To entice taxis to convert, NGV fuel tanks will be enlarged from a capacity of 70 kilograms to 100kg. The bigger tanks will allow taxis to travel 200 kilometres without refilling.

PTT expects the number of NGV taxis to reach 30,000 next year, accounting for 40 per cent of all taxis operating.

NGV is being promoted by the government alongside other alternatives, in an effort to reduce oil imports.

In other alternative-energy news, Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand met with executives of Solartron, Ekarat Solar and Bangkok Solar yesterday, to discuss solar-cell development in Thailand. Investment in solar energy in the Kingdom has now exceeded Bt10 billion.

Energy Reporters

The Nation