Justice Minister Rutthapon Naowarat said today that the amount of fuel oil that has gone missing at sea could be more than 57 million litres and that it was off-loaded at sea from oil tankers onto smaller vessels in 96 trips.
He did not, however, give any details about the actual destination or destinations of the fuel or who are believed to be involved in this illegal operation, which is currently being investigated by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
The justice minister called a meeting today with DSI Director-General Yutthana Praedam for an update on fuel hoarding cases and the missing 57 million litres of fuel oil en route to oil depots in southern provinces.
Meanwhile, Democrat deputy leader Korn Chatikavanij said in his Facebook post today that he would like to present information about the Gross Refining Margin (GRM), which may be useful to Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas and his committee tasked with handling the current oil crisis.
Korn said he is concerned over why Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is worried that oil refiners may stop refining oil.
The Democrat party-list MP said that he recently found a report by the Oil Fuel Fund Administration Institute about the oil crisis in July 2008 and that it made interesting reading in light of the current oil crisis.
Back then, Dubai crude was priced at US$137 per barrel, which is higher than today’s US$128, due to the sharp increase in demand for oil by China and the concern that Israel might attack Iran.
The ex-refinery price then was 36.65 baht/litre, compared to today’s 55.67 baht/litre, and the pump price then was 42.24 baht/litre, compared to today’s 50.54 baht/litre. Korn pointed out that, in 2008, the Oil Fuel Fund provided a subsidy of only 1.57 baht/litre, compared to today’s 14.27 baht/litre, adding that crude oil then was priced 7% higher than today but the ex-refinery price was 34%, or 19 baht/litre cheaper.
“Why was it that crude oil then was more expensive, but both the ex-refinery and pump prices were much lower with a lower subsidy?” he asked.
The answer lies, in part, in the fact that the excise tax in 2008 was just 2.40 baht/litre, compared to today’s 6.92 baht/litre, and the GRM then was 2.27 baht/litre, compared to today’s 15.99 baht/litre.
The claim that the high GRM is due to the higher cost of crude oil is, therefore, incorrect, said Korn adding that he believes that the GRM has not increased substantially as claimed by the refineries.
It is unarguable that oil prices must increase because global oil prices increase, but the domestic oil prices should not increase as much as they have, be it due to the excise tax or the GRM, said Korn, as he urged the government not to be cowed by the refiners’ threat to shut down their facilities.
