Ministry panel to tackle NGV problems

The Energy Ministry has formed a committee to monitor the opening of more natural gas for vehicles (NGV) stations, and the time it takes to fill gas tanks.

Some of the biggest complaints have been about the time consumed in filling tanks, which have led to long vehicle queues, and also the chronic shortage of NGV stations.

These problems should be resolved somewhat in the next couple of months and the stations should be able to service more vehicles, said Deputy Energy Permanent Secretary Norkhun Sittipong.

Its plan calls for increasing the number of NGV stations from 177 to 234 next month.

The number should further rise to 355 in December.

The stations are now servicing 72,950 vehicles, with 58 million cubic feet of gas per day.

It is expected that the number of NGV vehicles would rise to 120,000 in December and they will require nearly 100 million cubic feet of gas a day.

NGV is priced at less than half the price of diesel. It will remain at Bt8.50 per kilo until the end of this year.

It should be priced at no more than Bt12 next year and Bt13 in the following year.

As retail oil prices scale new highs, Energy Minister Poonpirom Liptapanlop yesterday said the ministry will not launch any extra energy-saving measures or intervene in the market,

Retailers are free to adjust prices and PTT and Bangchak Petroleum's slower pace of adjustment should not be seen as government intervention, she said.

Shell and some retailers on Wednesday raised petrol prices

by 80 satang a litre, the biggest in history for a single day.

As crude oil prices broke US$120 a barrel, PTT President Prasert Bunsumpun said Thailand's energy imports this year could reach Bt1.1 trillion compared to Bt870 billion last year.

Prasert said PTT's net profit should remain close to last year even though it has slowly raised the price and subsidised energy worth Bt30 billion this year.

Poonpirom said gasohol prices should remain Bt4-6 a litre cheaper than conventional petrol.

She said the ministry will speed up the implementation of 11 energy-saving measures.

The ministry will promote power generation from bio-mass and waste. This move was expecting to generate 100 megawatts of power by 2011. The Alternative Energy Efficiency and Development Department will move to encourage 1,537 municipalities to generate more than 100 tonnes of daily waste. In the process, 34,000 tonnes of waste a year would be used to generate 17 million tonnes of bio-gas worth Bt143 million.

Since 2006, 100 bio-gas tanks have been installed, and 200 more are in the pipeline this year, including those at educational venues and hospitals.

The Asean Economic Ministers' meeting in August is expected to discuss measures to promote the use of alternative energy and address the issue of nuclear energy.