CNG News: 15 january, 2010

Thai government to install CNG kits in taxis

The Energy Ministry of Thailand plans an open bid for private companies to install natural gas kits in taxis to help operators deal with rising oil prices. Norkhun Sitthipong, the deputy permanent secretary of the Energy Ministry, said that as oil prices have begun to jump again this year, they want to be prepared for a shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) if it happens again. When oil prices reached their record of USD 147 a barrel in mid-2008, motorists flocked to shift their engines to be compatible with the cheaper fuel. That caused a shortage as a government subsidy kept liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at 18.13 baht (USD 0.54) per kilogram while petrol retailed at more than 40 baht (USD 1.21) per liter. As a result, last year Thailand went from being the region\'s major exporter of LPG to an importer. The government is targeting the taxi sector first as it consumes the largest volume of LPG. The government switched half of Bangkok \'s 60.000 taxis from LPG two years ago. Sitthipong said converting the rest to natural gas for vehicles (NGV) would cost the government 1.2 billion baht (USD 36 million). He explained that they want to push the demand for clean natural gas instead of importing LPG because Thailand still has its own natural gas reserves. The government hopes the winning bidder will install 15.000 kits in March and 10.000 units and 5.000 units in subsequent months. GET Worldwide: CNG Reciprocating Compressor - Low Maintenance