Bangkok: Energy Minister Ekanat Promphan has called for an urgent meeting of the Energy Policy Committee to find ways to address excess profits from refineries, aiming to reduce gas station prices. Ekanat emphasized that if negotiations fail, he is prepared to use his authority as the committee chairman to enforce price controls at refineries.

According to Thai News Agency, the Comptroller General's Office, led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ekniti Nitithanprapha, has already submitted a study on energy price management to the Cabinet. The Cabinet has tasked the Minister of Energy with implementing these findings, which focus on negotiating with refineries or using legal authority to control prices. Ekanat has organized a meeting of the Energy Policy Administration Committee to explore measures to tackle the issue of high refining margins and energy prices. The average refining margin, which has typically ranged from 2-3 baht per liter over the past 4-5 years, has spiked to around 7 baht per liter since March and further to 16-17 baht per liter in April. Despite increased crude oil costs and premiums, the current refining margins are considered excessively high, prompting a need to assess the actual costs of all refineries to identify "excess profit."

Ekanat outlined two primary strategies: negotiating with refineries to reclaim excess profits in various forms beyond donations, and exercising legal authority to set ex-refinery prices if negotiations do not yield results. He highlighted that domestic fuel prices are influenced by the price of refined oil in Singapore, which is subject to significant fluctuations and often surpasses crude oil prices, resulting in substantial profits for refineries at the expense of the public or necessitating oil fund interventions.