NAGOYA, 18 September 2012 – The PTT Public Company Limited has said that the global energy price at the moment is on an upward trend, while urging the government to float the diesel price to reflect the true market price.
PTT President and CEO Pailin Chuchottaworn speculated that the global oil price would be on a rising trend, following the US issuance of the third quantitative easing, or QE3 measures, and the European bailout fund approved by the German court. He said the global crude oil price should rise from the current 113 US dollars per barrel, however, an all-year average should remain at 115 dollars per barrel.
At the same time, Mr Pailin urged the government to allow the diesel price to reflect the real market cost. He added that the marketing margins for all other types of petrol should not be pegged at between 1 to 1.50 baht per liter, as the move was a drawback for investors, citing foreign oil companies such as JET and Q8 had already withdrawn their investments in Thailand.
He explained that with the rise in the minimum wage, many retailers could no longer stay in the price competition; therefore, wider marketing margin was needed to attract entrepreneurs to stay in the game. He added that the reason many businesses managed to be in operation was that they made a healthy profit from their non oil-related businesses.
