Diesel fuel won’t be allowed to exceed 30 baht

Diesel fuel prices will not be allowed to exceed 30 baht (US$0.89) per liter, vows Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij. “Thirty baht per liter will be the point where we will have the state Oil Fund intervene,” he said. Diesel fuel in Bangkok currently costs 28.09 baht (US$0.84) a liter and B5, which contains 5% biodiesel, is 25.29 baht (US$0.75). Crude oil prices have risen above US$70 per barrel amid expectations of higher demand as the global economy improves. Korn said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had asked the Energy Ministry to intervene in the market by reducing levies to the Oil Fund to ease the impact of rising crude oil prices on consumers. Retail pump prices have risen less than crude oil prices, partly because of appreciation of the local currency against the US dollar, he said. (August 5, 2009)