Offshore staff
(Asia-Pacific) - Thailand's oil subsidy-supporting State Oil Fund should invest in E&P, as well as the development of alternative energy, to help ease the burden of rising oil prices on the local economy.
Making this call, the Energy Policy and Planning Office Director General Metta Buntherngsuk says such national oil funds in other countries were not just collecting taxes on petrol sales but had invested in upstream projects for security of national energy supplies and participated in the development of alternative energy technologies.
The Fund currently collects about $132.38 million a month in taxes including a levy on petrol sales and tariff on diesel. But it has run up debts of $2.12 billion due to the subsidy costs in 2004-2005, as the government came under pressure to balance the local fuel prices against surging international oil prices.
Metta says the Fund, to be restructured after some subsidies are eliminated at the end of this year and with its debts cleared in about two years, could embark on overseas investments to ensure future energy supplies for the country.
He points out that the semi-state-owned PTT E&P Plc could help manage the Fund's investments in upstream projects.
04/24/06
