Bangchak urged to drop subsidy scheme

BANGKOK, 27 May 2011 (NNT)-Dr. Anusorn Sangnimnuan, President of the Bangchak Petroleum Public Co., Ltd said the political campaigns of most political parties are not clear on energy policy while he wished to see them promoting inexhaustible energy such as solar and ethanol as well as bio-diesel. He claimed that the present fuel price subsidy only further increases financial burden on the government.

The President of the Bangchak cited the need to resort to other energy resources given that once the ASEAN Economic Community has begun, Thailand will have more natural resources from other nations, which could eventually force the prices of bio-fuel in the Kingdom to drop. He urged the government to terminate the subsidy scheme and allow the market mechanism to determine the prices.

Meanwhile, he said Bangchak has no problems of service delays and shortages of NGV at the moment. As Bangchak has only 17 NGV stations across Thailand, he admitted that there are long lines waiting to fill up their tanks. The company is not thinking about expanding more stations due to the subsidy scheme which is not worth the investment.