Thailand cuts diesel price after bus strike

[Anonymous]

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssEner ... 2220080530

I have had a conversation with an oil exec in Thailand and told him that I knew about this oil scam. He would only tell me that the price of oil had nothing to do with reserves and he did not try to correct me when I told him about the scam.

UPDATE 1-Thailand cuts diesel price after bus strike

 BANGKOK, May 30 (Reuters) - Thailand's four state-run refineries will sell diesel to private bus operators in Bangkok at a discount of 3 baht per litre, the government said on Friday in a reversal of its opposition to fuel subsidies.

The four refineries, all affiliates of Thailand's biggest oil and gas firm PTT PCL PTT.BK, agreed to supply 122 million litres of cheaper diesel per month from June 1 to bus companies struggling to hold fares down, Energy Minister Poonpirom Liptapanlop told reporters.

"This is a voluntary decision by the four refiners based on their willingness to help ease the people's burden," Poonpirom said after a meeting with the refiners chaired by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.

The decision came a day after private bus operators held a one-day strike in the Thai capital over a court temporarily blocked their planned fare hikes.

However, there was no agreement yet on a proposal that refiners pay a share of their profits into a government fund to ease the burden of rising pump prices, Poonpirom said.

Thailand scrapped fuel subsidies in 2005 after running up a $2.92 billion bill over a 19-month period.

The energy sub index .SETEN was up 1.42 percent at the midday break as the cost of the diesel subsidies was lower than investors had expected, traders said.

PTT would lose 2.2 billion baht in refining revenue under the six-month subsidy plan, Poonpirom said.

PTT holds significant stakes in the four refiners -- Thai Oil TOP.BK, PTT Aromatics and Refining PTTAR.BK, IRPC IRPC.BK and Bangchak Petroleum BCP.BK.

[kolnidre]

He's right and you're right. It's a scam, and the price of petrol has nothing to do with reserves and everything to do with how much is actually brought out of the ground and refined into a finished product. Reserves are at an all-time high around the world, yet the prices keep climbing.

Speaking of this, does anyone understand how oil futures are contributing to the high prices?

I know that personally the anticipation of higher prices has kept me from selling my crappy economy car and buying a crappy van for outings.