Meeting on power prices scheduled for Tuesday

 Energy Permanent Secretary Pornchai Rujiprapha said that the FT would be hiked in line with higher natural gas prices. However, the Energy Ministry will try to absorb some costs to keep the hike at 30-40 satang per unit.

  Joining the meeting on Tuesday are the ministry, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand PTT Plc.

 It was reported that the regulator may allow an increase of 10 satang per unit, and the incremental increases would be deferred to the subsequent rounds at the cost of Egat. Though PTT would not take part in this burden, it could shoulder parts of the cost through the Bt5 billion sum from the take or pay gas contract with Burma.

 Chitrapongse Kwangsukstith, senior executive vice president of PTT, said it is possible to make use of the sum under the take or pay contract, as oil prices remain at low prices.

  Take or pay contracts are a particular kind of long term contract common in the gas industry worldwide. The principal particularity is that buyers who do not "take" scheduled quantities are obliged to pay for them anyway and, under most take or pay contracts, buyers have prescribed rights to the untaken gas that has been paid for the prepaid gas.