Gas pipeline rents to be set this week

The only issue left for debate is the gas transmission revenue in past years, he said.

"PTT insisted that its latest figure is the final one, but the Finance Ministry contends that PTT keeps changing the figures so that the latest figure looks unconvincing. The ministry thus came up with its own figure and PTT would need to verify it," Piyasvasti said after a meeting with PTT and Finance Ministry officials yesterday.

He noted that no estimates would be used and the rents would be set in different steps depending on transmission revenue, with the lowest level at 5 per cent.

Piyasvasti said the rents issue would not be submitted to the Cabinet for approval. The Cabinet had earlier approved the rent collection in principle and the Finance Ministry is authorised to charge the rents on its own under the Public/Private Joint Venture Act. The gas transmission fee in the future will be determined by the energy business regulatory board, which is yet to be set up.

The Cabinet will today review the list of candidates for the board. Piyasvasti insisted that all individuals had passed strict selection criteria.

A source at the Energy Ministry said that 64 persons had submitted their applications. Of the candidates, 13, who had expertise in power generation, natural gas, engineering, finance, legal and environmental issues, had passed the interview test yesterday.

The Nation