The Energy Ministry says the government will not revise its alternative-fuel development plan despite the narrowing gap between ethanol and oil prices. Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul acknowledged that the more expensive ethanol and cheaper refined oil would affect the alternative-fuel promotion programme, which was launched two years ago to encourage the public to conserve energy.

Since the beginning, ethanol-based petrol has been embraced by motorists, largely due to the large price gap when compared to premium petrol.

But the quarterly price of ethanol, starting from Oct 1, is 22.11 baht a litre compared to the wholesale price of 18-19 baht for refined oil while the biodiesel price is 25.67 baht.

In spite of the closing price gap, the energy minister will not revise the measures and will continue with the same policy to promote the use of alternative fuel.

Mr Wannarat also has taken the same stand on the narrowing price gap of E10, a mixture of 10% ethanol and 90% petrol, and E20, a blend of 20% ethanol and 80% petrol.

His predecessor had tried to promote the use of E20 by asking the Excise Department to reduce the taxes on imported vehicles compatible with E20 and E85, an 85%-ethanol mix.

''We have no plan to create price disparities between E10, E20 and E85 though we will remain committed to promoting the use of ethanol-based petrol,'' he said.

''No new measures will be implemented while existing policies such as the extension of household loans to promote the use of energy-saving electrical appliances and the push for temples and mosques to use power-saving bulbs will continue.''

The minister plans to take a wait-and-see approach while adding that if problems arise, the matter would be discussed at the National Energy Policy Committee meeting within this year.

He also has no plan to use the state Oil Fund to create price differences across different types of alternative fuels, a strategy used by his predecessor to push the ethanol-based fuel industry forward.

There had been an oversupply of ethanol last year and the balance was reached after a sharp rise in fuel prices during the first six months of the year.

Ethanol production this month stood at 800,000 litres a day on average compared to the country's full capacity at one million litres. The additional output from new plants will raise the total to 1.2 million litres by the end of this year.